Saving the World, Again
by potterfan36041
Summary: A prediction that Zordon made for the first Power Rangers has suddenly come true. In order to save the world again, some people have to find a way to forgive, forget and love again. COMPLETED!
1. Prologue

AN: I hope this will explain where the story starts from, if not tell me and I'll keep on trying to make it better.

**Prologue **

"Before any of you leave here today, I find it necessary to tell you the truth of why I summoned all of you to come here today. There is going to be a life altering battle, several years from now, that will take all nine of you to end. Yes, there have been and will continue to be problems between some of you," Zordon said, looking down on the disarrayed,current and former, Power Rangers. It had been a year and a half since Kimberly had left them and they were now being ripped apart at the seams. Tommy and Kim, for instance, didn't seem to think that the entire length of the command center was far enough away from each other, although the other rangers were constantly pushing them towards each other, praying for some sort of hope. This, as well as some other things, was extremely disturbing to Zordon. The group that had once been so close was now putting themselves through a great injustice, but they did not seem to want to resolve it anytime soon. "But those problems will have to be put aside, for you to do what is necessary."

"But, Zordon, how are we going to know when all of this is happening?" Jason asked, with a sense of urgency. He seemed to be the only one in the group able to find a voice, as the others were either too overwhelmed or frightened to hear what would come next for them. He also was the only voice that would not cause either Tommy or Kim to start yelling at each other, at the mere thought of having to be together again.

"Jason, the battle will not happen anytime soon, I can assure you of that much. I will not be here much longer and it is now time for all of you to take this burden as your own. I will not be able to help you when it all starts. Don't worry, there will be signs to let all of you know that the battle is about to occur. Firstly, a new town will be attacked by the monsters from the new evil force and no new group of Power Rangers will emerge to defend this town. Secondly, some of you will continue to have no contact with the others standing here today. As that reaches its breaking point, those who estranged themselves will be called back here by one of their own. I only hope that you can each find the power within yourself to save this world, again," Zordon said and the Rangers then left the command center, one by one, with much left for them to think upon.

_Kim's POV _

Zordon told all nine of us this prophecy, five years ago, and as he predicted: a new town was attacked and those who had estranged themselves were called back into battle. I had been one of the people who felt it best to leave my life in Angel Grove, out of my future, and I only had a limited amount of contact with the group as a whole. I was called back by a worried and somewhat pissed off, Jason. He somehow convinced me to come back to California, which was not in my plans in the least bit.

So, I got on a plane and flew back out to my childhood home, knowing that I would possibly be going back for good. I would have never admitted to any of them, but I had missed this place about as much as I had missed the people. Of course, I had been the idiot to write the letter to Tommy, but I also knew that it was time for me to fulfill the duty that I began so many years ago and hopefully gain some forgiveness along the way.

AN: I know it's really short, but this gives you some background on how the story started off. I hope you like it and feel free to review.


	2. Five Years Later

_Jason's POV _

I walked into the old command center; prepared for it to be completely different from the last time I had seen it, but found that it looked surprisingly the same, except for a few small details.

I noticed that the tube the Zordon had once lived in was gone, and had been replaced by counter space, which was filled with various components necessary to make our new morphers and communicators. I assumed that they all thought it would bring back bad memories to keep the tube, but it would have been more than welcome for me, as we will need the reassurance on this one, as I don't think some problems have been solved.

There was also a new machine placed in the far left-hand corner of the command center, next to a row of beds, which made absolutely no sense to me. As far as I knew beds had never been in the command center before, but this was to be no ordinary mission. The circumstances had been foretold and it was well known that almost anything could happen to us this time.

As I looked around the room, I noticed several familiar faces. Tommy and Rocky seemed to be in an intense conversation over the latest karate class that they had started only a matter of months ago. They had decided to go into business together, which was why they were living in Reefside, where Tommy teaches school. I never thought that Tommy would be a teacher, but I'm glad that he got a steady job at last. I know that he loved racecar driving but you can only make a living in that if you sign with a NASCAR team and let's all face it, Tommy was not exactly that talented.

Trini and Aisha were talking about clothes, I think. Let's face it, I wasn't very interested in hearing about the latest fashion trend.It happens to be these pants that flood, but that's how there supposed to be and I only know that much because of Katherine.

Katherine alone is a completely different story, we have a lot of things that are iffy right now, to say the least. I'm not sure how much longer we will last or if there is still a we right now. I'm almost sure there won't be a we once I get back from this mission. We started dating because it was what was there at the time. We both needed someone and there we were, it was the logical thing to do, but our hearts are now making fools of us.

Zack and Adamare walking around; looking at the improvements that have been made to this old place and wondering what would happen next. It's definitely different to be back here after such a long break from a rangers life.

I, however, noticed two familiar faces were missing and their absence bothered me a good bit. Billy and Kim were not here and knowing how much Kim dreads seeing Tommy again, Iam beginning to doubt shewill even show up. After almost five years of not talking to each other, I knew that this reunion would either be pure bliss for the two of them or the two of them would continue to ignore each other, which would put the rest of us in great danger and through the emotional hell of having to pick sides, because it could no longer be avoided. All of these people were, and continue to be, my friends. That very fact made it bearable to have left everything, to come and do our old job again.

"Hey, how's everyone been?" Jason asked, announcing his presence, after a few minutes of taking in the scene before him.

He did not want to forget this moment, because it could be some of the last he spent with them, as death was so much more real this time. They were older and that meant they had experience than the run of the mill fresh, teenaged ranger team, but did they have their old reflexes? Could they really win a full out battle any more? Was it even realistic for them to be trying to do this? And would they make it to come back home again?

"We've all been busy; unlike you most of us have had to get real jobs. We don't get to keep on working with athletes and hanging around the juice bar," Trini said, smiling and giving him a hug around the neck. It was great to see one of her best friends after such a long time. She hadn't seen him since the last time they had visited Kim and that was over two years ago and that was too long in her opinion. Jason had gotten busy with college and things just fell apart with the two of them, although he did look very happy to see her. She just hoped that the happiness would stay there when Kim and Tommy were finally in a room together. "It's great to have you back."

"Well, why haven't Kim and Billy arrived yet? I know that the two of them must have recognized the signs on the news. It has been broadcast nation wide. The media seems to be waiting to see a group of rangers show up," Jason said, after reluctantly letting Trini go, but he also kept his arm firmly around her shoulder. He had missed being around her far too much.

Jason also knew that neither one of them could ignore the phone calls he had given them, only a few hours before. He did not want to have to go through on his promise of dragging them to Angel Grove, although he would if he had to.

"Kim did notice it all, she's just not sure how someone will react when she shows up," Aisha said, nodding towards Tommy's back. They all knew that this was still a very touchy subject, which is why most of them were already trying to step around the subject as much as possible. They just had to see how they reacted to each other when they were in a room together.

Aisha had also called Kim and had found out some things that she didn't want to know about why Kim wasn't planning to come back, namely the former white ranger, who was now looking very agitated at the mention of the two of them in one sentence.

"I heard that," Tommy said, huffily. Tommy was not happy in the least bit about having to see someone that had caused him so much pain, but he still loved with all his heart. It was hard to stay mad, when your soul is screaming at you to forgive and go find the person, but he had somehow been able to keep that voice quiet, until today. He knew that he had one last chance to try to forgive her and if he didn't take it, they would probably never see each other again. "And she'll have to answer to me when she gets here."

"You're not over all of that?" Jason asked, realizing the severity of the situation that could be brewing. Jason had not thought that Tommy would still be holding a grudge after all of these years. He knew that Kim had caused the grudge, but even she was ready to put everything aside or so it had seemed, when he last talked to her, although Tommy's attitude might throw any hope of resolution. "You know that she regrets what she did to you, Tommy."

"Yeah, she does, mainly because what she told you was a lie," Adam said, shaking his head while remembering a phone conversation with Kim from over three years ago, about her leaving Tommy to his own doings.

She had confided in him the truth, but what she had told him would have been best to come out of her own mouth, instead of his, but desperate times call for desperate measures and this was one of those times. They needed the two of them tobe able to talk to each other.

"How could it be a lie?" Tommy asked, utterly outraged. Tommy had now lost all sense of calm that he had been struggling to keep as he knew the time was closer for him having to face the woman he loved again. He could feel her presence now and what he was about to say would certainly prove how she felt about everything she had done. "She has never tried to talk to me, never tried to explain all of her bull shit and after all of these years I find out from you, of all people, that it is a lie. Why do something so heartless? Why not tell me the truth, instead of sending me a damn 'Dear John' letter?"

"I thought all of this is what you would want. I thought you wanted to be free from me," Kim said, wiping away a tear and feeling Tommy's gaze land on her. Kim knew that all of this was going to be hard, but this was not what she had imagined. She had imagined the shouting, but the cursing was new for Tommy and she had the feeling that many other things would be new as well. That alone could be seen from his short hair and missing earring. "I thought that you'd want to be free to be with Kat or anyone else for that matter, but I found out too late how wrong I was, didn't I?"

"Hey, guys. I guess I chose a bad time to show up, didn't I?" Billy said, surveying the scene in front of him.

Kim and Tommy were standing about three feet away from each other, but they seemed to be making no attempt to make amends. They had all hoped for so long that they would forgive each other, but the yelling match that they thought was going to ensue was not what they had pictured. They desperately needed for them to at least try to make up with each other, for the sake of the team.

"No, I was just clearing some things up," Kim said taking a deep breath, turning to face Billy and walking over to give him a hug. The tears had not cleared, but she couldn't stand looking at Tommy any longer with so much hatred coming across in his eyes. If only she had been able to see that behind the hatred, love still lingered, maybe she would have been able to stand it right now, but his emotions seemed far clearer to her now that she finally saw him. "Now, what exactly are we supposed to be working on? We didn't just come out here to sit around and do nothing."

"We have to get all nine of us powers again," Tommy said, shaking with so much rage that his vision was blurred. Damn it, he had forgotten his glasses in Reefside this morning. He knew that he should have packed them last night as he was bound to get mad today, but that was really the least of his worries when he was packing. He was more worried that not everyone would show up and they would be up shit creek. "Zordon explained all of this before the Zeo Rangers disbanded, why can't I remember what he said?"

"It was probably the day that Kat broke up with you to let you get your priorities straight," Rocky said, and received a very distinctive go to hell look from Tommy. That was touchy subject number two and if he hadn't known any better, he would have sworn that Tommy would have broken something if the others hadn't been around. "That's just a guess, though, Tommy. I'm not saying anything for sure."

"So, are the two of you gonna kiss and make up or are you gonna fight for the rest of the time that we are trying to save the world from these demented creatures?" Jason asked, looking between Kim and Tommy, who were stubbornly ignoring each other. He saw that neither was going to voluntarily admit that they still had feelings for the other person, which would have been the easiest solution to this problem. He then released an exasperated sigh, as he crossed his arms and looked at the two of them, once more. He was going to have to do something he really didn't want to do, but he could only hope that they would thank him for it later. "We could give ya'll some time to straighten all of this mess out."

"I'll be alright," Tommy said, shaking his head to clear its thoughts and trying to clear the emotions that had arisen to the surface as well. He knew that he wouldn't be fine, but his pride got in the way of letting him admit that, not even to Jason.

"But I won't," Kim said, only loud enough for Rocky, who was standing next her, to hear. The pride that had once stood like a stone wall in front of her had deteriorated, as she felt her heart being ripped out and stomped on by an angry Tommy Oliver. She couldn't continue to live like this, although it seemed that Tommy was not going to give him any sort of chance.

"How about the two of you take a walk and we will start working on the powers?" Billy suggested, seeing the look on Rocky's face and sensing that Kim had something of utmost importance. It would not be pretty if the two of them could not get along during this mission, failing was not an option, and that could possibly happen with the two of them at odds with each other. "Especially considering your lack of knowledge in this department, Tommy."

"But…" Tommy said looking around at all of them and seeing defeat from all of them expect Kim, who was refusing to look his way.

He didn't blame her for that; he wouldn't have looked at her if she hadn't been standing right in front of Jason, who had a fierce determination coming across in his expression. He was not ready to cross Jason on a subject that had caused so many fights that they really should have never had and Jason was not known to back down. Tommy knew he wouldn't back down this time. They all needed for the two of them to just be friends, even if it was not anything more than that now.

"Go," Jason demanded, walking the two of them towards the door, with a firm hand on each of their backs. They were not going to be able to get out of it this time, because if either of them tried he was tossing them out the door. "And don't come back in here until you have solved all of this, one way or another."

"They don't give us much choice, now do they?" Kim asked, after being shoved out of the command post and hearing the door close with a dull thud. The rangers meant well, but did they really think that this was going to solve everything, after all of these years that they hadn't even talked to each other?

"No they don't, but what do you expect from them? They want us to be able to get along again, I'm not sure I do, not after what I just found out," Tommy lied, while examining a cactus, with great interest.

They both went silent for awhile, as they walked further into the landscape that surrounded the command center. Tommy didn't want to talk about it, but knew that it was inevitable. Kim wanted to talk, but she was not sure that she was prepared for what his reaction would be when she finally did start talking.

"Well, I thought it would be best for you," Kim said, shaking her head with the realization that she had been extremely wrong.

"That's a laugh," Tommy said, sarcastically.

If Kim had thought that this was best, she had another thing coming. It was quite possibly the worst thing she had ever done, to anyone, but he still had to wonder why all of this had to happen in the first place. They had been so happy and then it ended, as quick as a snap of his fingers, it ended.

"It is to you, but I really did think that all of this would be best and it is pretty obvious you don't want to try and resolve this problem, not now or ever for that matter. I think it is best that I just go inside and try to help our teammates," Kim said, and turned to walk back to the command center.

She was not going to deal with him being a smart-ass when she honestly was trying to apologize to him, after all of these years of letting the wounds fester between the two of them. Tommy reached an arm out to stop her from continuing her path towards the command center and pulled her back toward him, with the gentle strength he had always had with her. Maybe they needed this huge push into a place that they were no longer comfortable being.

"You can't go, Jason will give us hell if you walk back in there and things haven't been worked out. But you really thought that all of this would be best for me?" Tommy asked, voicing the question that had long been on his mind.

"I didn't want you to feel held down, Tommy. I was never going to be around and after all of you saved me from the spell I was under; I saw you and Kat. I thought you had fallen out of love with me and I didn't want you to feel any obligation to someone who could possibly never come back," Kim said, and turned around to face him with tears flowing freely down her suntan skin.

"I would have waited until now, Kim. Kat was nothing; she didn't… couldn't replace you the way that you thought she would. She, instead, made everything much more obvious to me. I wish I would have taken her advice, but I was so mad at the time that her advice just sounded like another thing that the rangers had fed to her," Tommy said, putting an arm around her. Tommy realized that this had not only been hard on him, but it had been hard on Kim as well. Kat had told him so many years ago, when she broke his heart, that Kim was who he was meant to be with. If only he had listened then and gone after her, but pride is a horrible necessity at a time like this. "Didn't you get any of my letters?"

"No, I didn't. They probably hid them from me, like everything else. It was not fun for me down there," Kim said, leaning her head on his shoulder and hoping he would not pull away from her, he didn't.

"I'm glad that you came. I was beginning to wonder if you ever would come join us for this mission. I guess it's a good thing we have Jason here, we wouldn't have ever done this without him," Tommy said, and he subconsciously reminded himself that Jason was going to deserve a huge thank you for this later.

"Yeah, I know that. That's why he threw us outside to make us try to make up," Kim said, and then Tommy kissed her, which surprised her at first, but then she gladly let him continue. She had missed him more than she realized and she could only hope he felt the same.

"Hey, guys!" Aisha said, calling them to the old viewing globe that she had been watching. They had been watching, out of curiosity, to see what would transpire between the two lovebirds and were happy about what they were seeing.

"What?" Zack asked, walking over to the globe. In the few seconds that they had been kissing, they had taken themselves back to their moments of spontaneity in high school, which shocked Zack. He knew that they still loved each other, but he had not expected Tommy to forgive so easily. "Well."

"Well, what?" Billy asked, looking up from the work he was doing momentarily and over at the group that was blocking the viewing globe. He couldn't see a damn thing. "You know some of us can't come look, so would you be so kind as to tell us, more specifically me, what is going on?"

"Let's just say that they're making up," Zack said, with a laugh and the others joined in as well.

"You know that you shouldn't be watching that," Jason said, shaking his head and laughing. His big brother instinct was telling him to cover the screen, but his other side had knocked the big brother side out about five minutes before. He knew that he would catch hell, if they ever saw, but that would only be a slight consequence if the two of them wound up back together. "But after the hell that they've put us through, go ahead and enjoy the soap opera."

AN: This is my first fan fic in this genre. I hope you like it. Feel free to review, even if you don't like it. I really enjoy hearing your opinion of how this is.


	3. Fighting the Asoroids

AN: I usually don't begin my chapters like this, but I feel compelled to respond to one particular review.

To** Whoever You Are**: I do appreciate your opinion of my story because that is what I asked for, but I am going to respond to some of the comments you made in other areas. I do know about Katherine's character and this is probably the only instance that she will be used in this story. My opinion of her is just that **my opinion**. About the plot, I don't like things that aren't happy, usually. I would also like to remind you that these stories are fictional and this one comes from my mind, which means it may or may not offend some other people. As for its originality, read the rest of the story and then make your decision, because you are looking at an incomplete work. If you ever choose to review any of my stories in the fashion that you did, please leave your screen name or some other means for me to get in touch with you. That way, I won't feel as if I have to bitch at the whole community for one person's actions.

**Ghostwriter**: Thanks, I really appreciate your review, and the little part at the beginning is from Kim's POV and any other similar parts will be from her POV, unless noted.

**Pinkie**: I'll try to stretch things out, so if you will please review to this chapter and see if it is any better. The first chapter may be rewritten later because of the fact that the more I write; the more I might find a need to change things. Thanks for your input!

_Now, on with the story!_

"Tommy, get your ass in here, now!" Rocky playfully yelled, sticking his head out of the doors.

If he hadn't done this now, Kim and Tommy would have probably been at it all night and they did need their help, although they hated to admit it. He also wanted to see, in person, that they had not imagined what had happened on the viewing globe. It almost seemed to good to be true after waiting this many years for them to resolve their problem, but they were all sure that some kinks still remained. You couldn't erase all that time in a few minutes and a kiss.

"You really should turn that off if you don't want him to get mad," Jason said, as the others scrambled to make the globe go blank and to not look guilty. They were sure that Tommy would figure it out, but they could only hope that it would take him a few minutes.

"What do you want?" Tommy asked, running in breathless, his face flushed. The sun was just beginning to go down behind Tommy and they were able to see a smaller shadow following him towards the command center, at a much slower rate.

"Just trying to prevent any further problems," Billy said, with a mischievous smile, as he looked up from his work. He may not have seen them very often, but he still knew that most of them were the same as they had always been.

"What types of problems?" Tommy asked, becoming aggravated that they had taken him away from 'making up' with Kim some more.

"Well, kissing might lead to other things with the two of you, considering how long it has been. We wanted to take the necessary precautions," Aisha said, smiling and tilting her head to the side, as an attempt to hold in the laughter that was forming inside of her. The silent laughter seemed contagious, as Zack and Adam began to battle it as well.

"What…how did you…no you wouldn't do that," Tommy said, staring at the globe and then at the seven rangers in the room. By this point, Aisha, Zack, Rocky, and Adam had started laughing and Trini, Jason, and Billy seemed to be very tempted to join in, even if they might receive a death glare from Tommy. They finally broke down and joined in as well.

It really was funny to see him mad about that type of thing again. He would have been furious about it in high school, but they had thought that he would have let up a little on that by now.

"I wouldn't put it past any of us, considering what the two of you have put us through over the past five years," Jason said, smiling as Tommy's face had turned bright red, which had always happened when Jason mentioned anything about Kim to Tommy. As an afterthought Jason added, "Plus if the two of you had started fighting, we had to be ready to break it up."

"Good point, but can I go back out there?" Tommy asked, heading towards the door and putting one hand on the handle before Billy called him back.

"Hold your horses," Billy said, laughing out loud at Tommy's anxiousness. The five years had not only seemed to make Tommy fall harder, but had made him much more needy for what he had once had daily. They were going to have to find a way to control that energy, at least until they were finished with the mission that lay in front of them. "We need your help with making the morphers, now. Where, exactly, are we supposed to harness these new powers from?"

"Supposedly from 'within ourselves', but just in case that doesn't work, Zordon left us these," Tommy said, finding a box of glass, hidden under a counter. The old, wooden box seemed useless to those without a chance of having the powers it contained, but to those who did, this box meant everything in the world to them. Even Zordon, who called it a mysterious miracle, did not know how the powers were there, only that they were and that is what was important to them. "They are supposed to form the owners name in their new color, see it forms mine in white."

"So, we have to fish all of the white pieces out and make a morpher?" Billy asked, as he saw how these pieces seemed to float on top of the now swirling mixture of glass and some odd liquid.

"Basically, but no one else can touch the box while some one is trying to get their pieces. The colors will mix," Tommy said, taking a few of his shards out at a time and placing them in a pile on the open counter space.

"Okay, so you get yours out of the way and then the rest of us will start sorting our own," Billy said, as he continued to see what else would have to be done before their powers could be fully reinstated.

"The two of you resolved your problem, didn't you?" Trini asked, as Kim walked in after composing herself.

"I guess, if this is what you call resolved," Kim said, shaking her head slightly.

"Why wouldn't it be?" Aisha asked, by the look on Kim's face it seemed that she had lost all confidence in her heart's choice of suitor. "He looks happy enough with the results."

"There's really no reason, I'm just afraid that some more questions will come up later and that he won't like the answers to those," Kim said, taking a glance at Tommy, who was helping Billy sort pieces of the communicators into piles of their own. He still had the silent leadership, but there was something more there, something Kim couldn't quite put her finger on.

"What type of questions?" Rocky asked, who had been standing a few feet away. "Sorry, I couldn't help but over hear."

"The usual, mainly all the ones he didn't bother to ask," Kim said, as her face turned into a look of sadness.

"That's because he didn't need to, you decided that you would go ahead and answer them. Trust me, I have heard all the questions that he would ask and you figured it out on your own," Rocky said, as they walked over to join the others. "At least that is how it would be for me. You don't need to worry about it, for the time being be happy that the two of you can speak to each other without steam coming out of your ears. That is a huge improvement right there."

"Maybe, that's true, but have you ever wondered why Zordon cut it off at the nine of us?" Jason asked, as the others approached and began listening to their conversation. Jason had always wondered why it was them, but now that he was around the others, he was hoping to see what they thought about their current situation. "There are others that could do this, too."

"Yeah, but there was a reason behind everything he did," Zack said, trying to remember the way Zordon thought. It was not something that they understood, but they had at least tried to grasp it somehow. "Even if the things he did, didn't have the best results for all of us."

"Yeah, you're right on one thing," Aisha said, sighing. She had been happily working for an engineering company and because of her unscheduled 'vacation', was forced to quit her job. There was nothing else she could do and she didn't know if being a ranger really paid off this much. She knew that she would be broke if she continued to be a ranger for a long period of time without a job, but surely she would be able to find one once she came back. She just hated to think that her old company might be spreading her name in the mud. "We don't get any payoff for quitting our jobs and coming back here, though."

"Other than saving the world we all love," Zack said, putting his arm around her, as his one attempt to comfort her. "That's our payoff."

"You're right," Aisha said, looking up at him, with a gracious smile. "It is, I guess I shouldn't be complaining about being here. I wouldn't want another group of rangers to try to do what we are doing."

"We're all human," Zack said, and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. He knew that some of the others didn't know about them and they didn't want to shock them too much at the moment. "I think that we all would expect this for at least one of us."

"When am I going to get my powers back?" Kim asked, sneaking up behind Tommy and putting her arms around him. She was anxious to get back in uniform, so she could help everyone with something she should have never left in the first place.

"You're just gonna have to wait a little while," Tommy said, smiling down at her. Kim still had the same affect on him and he was surprised that he was still able to hold himself upright after the surprises of this afternoon.

"All of these have to be sorted to their owner," Billy said, indicating the colored glass shards he was picking up. It was a tedious job and it was something they didn't have time for, in his opinion, but what choice did they have? They couldn't go against any evil without powers and this is what they had in front of them. They had to use it, even if it did take way too much time.

"That sounds like loads of fun," Kim said with a laugh and a shake of her head.

"It's just wonderful," Billy said with the slightest bit of sarcasm, shaking his head while hearing laughs that had too long been absent from this circle of friends.

"There's been another attack," Adam said, grimly walking over to join the others. He had been keeping an eye on the viewing globe and it had appeared only seconds before. "Is there any way that some of us can go ahead and get our powers back, now?"

"Not that I can tell, it's either we all get them back or none of us do, whether we like it or not," Billy said, looking over the notes that he had in front of him. He had done some research and was prepared for this to happen, even though he had hoped that some of them would be able to activate their powers sooner. "But, we all had some residual powers left in us when we lost our powers, we could possibly use those for the time being, thing is I lost mine a long time ago."

"Same here," Trini, Adam, Aisha, Jason, and Rocky said, as they all wore the same longing expression, to be able to go into the battle.

"Billy, it might not be very wise for the rest of them to use what they have left," Trini said, showing her true dislike for this idea. She did not like the idea of sending anyone into battle without any real powers to protect them, especially knowing who had not answered that question.

"Yeah, but it is their choice, Trini," Jason said, looking over at the ones who had not said anything. They all seemed to be in deep thought, which didn't surprise anyone, going in with only remnants of their old powers could possibly leave them in critical condition or worse, if they weren't careful.

"Zack, Tommy, Kim, what do you want to do?" Billy asked, as the remaining six faced the three that had some powers intact.

"I just don't know, my powers aren't completely gone, but I don't feel comfortable doing this. I'm not at the full strength I once had and we're going to need all of us healthy for this," Zack said, very quietly. He didn't want to feel like a coward for backing out of this mission, but he did anyway. There was too much to risk to go into a fight like this with minimum resources.

"I'll go, my powers are all still there. I've never had a reason to use them like the rest of you," Kim said, after glancing at everyone, except Tommy, whom she was sure would adamantly try to keep her put.

"Oh no, you won't," Tommy said, instinctively grabbing Kim's hand and then let go of it with the realization of what he had done. They may have made up, but he was not sure he was ready to make the next jump just yet. "I just got you back and I'm not going to lose you again."

"How can you stop me, Tommy? This is my choice, I wasn't here when all of it started and I want to help now. All of you have been going through hell lately, just let me do this," Kim said, heading towards the door, as her legendary stubbornness shone through. He would not stop her from saving some people that would surely get in this monster's way. "Now, you can come with me, if you want to try to guarantee that I won't get hurt by these things."

"You don't leave me many choices, do you?" Tommy asked, now following her to the door. He was not willing to let her out of his sight if she was going to go on some crazy mission. "We'll be back in a little while. Where exactly are they attacking?"

"Reefside Park," Adam said, as Tommy ran back outside. "Typical, isn't it?"

"Yeah," Billy said, as he walked back to where the skeletons of the morphers were sitting and sighed, this was going to take a very long time. He had not expected to have to construct everything from scratch, but that was what was facing him at the moment. "You might want to keep an eye on them in case someone has to teleport in to bring them back."

"I didn't think we had that power, yet," Trini said, walking over to help him, as she was feeling the sense of urgency as well.

"You will soon, go ahead and pick out your shards," Billy said, handing the box to her with a wink.

"I guess I'm in for a color change," Trini said, as her name was formed in purple shards. They had never had a purple ranger before, but there was always a first time for everything.

"That color will suit you fine," Billy said with a smile, and went back to his work.

"It's about time some one showed up to test their limits against me," Nicarni-Aso said, as Tommy and Kim walked into a rather chaotic scene. Nicarni-Aso's creatures were destroying anything that came within ten feet of them, which was scary with the amount of people around, trying to find some sort of shelter. They had hidden under park tables and benches, which were some of the worst places, but because of fear they did not run any further away. "Let's see how you are able to handle these."

"Oh shit," Tommy said, as a creature that seemed to be part bird and part puddy roamed around in front of the two of them. It then turned its attention towards them, with the realization of what their leader wanted them to do. He did not think that they were capable of battling them right now. "I think you should go back."

"I'll be fine. What are those things any way?" Kim asked, sizing them up and hoping that they didn't have the sense or strength to use any of the park benches as weapons. She was sure that those could cause more damage than they could imagine.

"Well, we call them Asoriods, but you are free to call them what ever you want to. To da loo," Nicarni-Aso said and vanished with a sinister smile on her face.

"They are tougher than I thought they would be," Kim said, getting thrown by one of the riods into a tree. The creatures proved to be strong, even if they were not very intelligent. That was how they were going to have to defeat them, by outsmarting them.

"You wouldn't have happened to find any weakness, then?" Tommy asked, as he landed close by in the grass and quickly scampered up to continue fighting. These creatures would not beat them, no matter what.

"Not a single one," Kim said, landing a kick squarely on one of their stomachs, before it stopped her next attack.

"This is not going to be good," Tommy said, as Kim got thrown again and then he kicked one of them in the back and it disappeared from sight. "Kicking them in the back works, Kim."

"Alright," Kim said, landing in a kick of her own and the riods then all left. It seemed that they only wanted to test their abilities and not put them through a full fledged fight.

"Guess they didn't want to wind up like the other two," Tommy said, walking over to where Kim was standing.

"Guess so, we had better get back before they attack again," Kim said, rubbing her elbow, which was bleeding slightly. "I don't have many of those left in me."

"Neither do I," Tommy said, putting his arm around her, as an attempt to shield her from any other attacks that could be sent.

They, the Power Rangers, didn't know that Nicarni-Aso was not satisfied with her Asoriods attempt. The two of them were not supposed to make it out of the battle, basically unharmed. Nicarni-Aso's worries were now what caused her ideas for new and more dangerous battles, yet to come.

AN: Tell me how you like or dislike this chapter! As long as you don't add insult to injury I will never write another reply like the first one I did, but I feel like I needed to clear this up quickly. Thanks for reading I hope you enjoyed!


	4. Draining the Powers

Disclaimer: I do not own the Power Rangers, I wouldn't be writing here if I did, would I?

**Ghostwriter:** Thanks for reviewing! And I'm gonna keep on writing this story until it comes to a good ending (in my opinion, of course).

**Daisyz:** Thanks for reviewing this story!

**Pinkie:** Thanks, but if you can tell me what else is confusing you, maybe I can clarify it for you. I'll try to make this chapter clearer, but I make no guarantees.

Now on with the Story!

Kim and Tommy arrived back at the command center, to see that the project of completing the new morphers was no closer to its completion, as they hoped it would be by the time they had gotten back. Removing the shards was not the problem, figuring out how to activate their powers did seem to cause some concerns, to say the least. One being that all of the residual powers that Zack, Kim, and Tommy had left inside of them either had to be destroyed or depleted, both of which were dangerous tasks and only one of the Rangers had been through such an ordeal and lived to tell the tale. Tommy did not like either idea and could tell that Billy was begrudgingly doing his duty, by performing the necessary removal of their former powers.

"I don't understand, Billy. There are only three of us who have any of our old strengths left why is this a big deal?" Kim asked, pacing around the command center. Billy had explained it at least five times, but she still could not comprehend why he had to drain their powers, every other time she had recieved new powers it was just added to the the ones she already contained. Why it couldn't be the same? She didn't understand and was trying very hard not to understand. "And we're going to have to fight with our old ones until we lose them? I don't know about the two of you, but I've had my powers taken away before and the after effects weren't exactly pleasant. Why can't we just add on like we always have? It shouldn't be a problem, Billy."

"I've lost mine, too, you seem to forget that sometimes," Tommy said, with a smile and a wink, these actions were enough to get Kim to stop walking around and focus her attention on what Tommy had to say. "Let's just say its not the powers being taken away; it's knowing you can't get them back."

"What did you learn about their resources?" Billy asked, having missed the chance to see the battle on the viewing globe and completely ignoring Kim's question.

He, as well as, Jason and Trini had been trying to form the morphers into more stable configurations, but had only gotten two done so far and were hours away from finishing the rest of the morphers. He also did not want to explain why the powers had to be drained at the moment, it would certainly cause some problems among the rangers if they knew the whole truth.

"Those things aren't as strong as they look, but they do take a lot of power to destroy. They are patient when we are not," Kim said, trying to make it seem like this might be easy and seeing how her attempt fails, in the eyes of the other rangers. "Well, to be frank, fighting them makes you feel like shit."

"Yeah, it does," Tommy said, feeling exhausted from that, one, excursion. He had not realized how much the powers had truly helped them when they fought until he fought without them. He never wanted to try to do that again. "Can you see how much power we have left?"

"Yeah, but someone needs to get to their shards out of here," Billy said, bringing the box over to Kim. The others had managed to pull out there colors while Tommy and Kim had been keeping the asoriods busy and away from the majority of the metropolis.

"Alright, I'll go to work on it," Kim said, taking the box and sitting down on the floor. While she picked out pink shards of glass, the others began to talk about the upcoming battle.

"I've been thinking," Tommy said, walking over to where the majority of the group now stood and noticed they all looked at him with a curious glance. They never really liked when he had too long to think things out because it often times led to problems for the group as a whole.

"That's never a good thing," Zack said, and promptly received a slap on the back of his head. He was startled, when Tommy only looked at him with a grin and then he realized that it came from another source, one, which happened to stand only about a foot away from him. "What was that for?"

"For being rude, what have you been thinking about?" Aisha asked, giving Zack a look that plainly told him that there was much more where that came from. The rest of the rangers may not have known about them dating, but they knew about everything else that had been going on in both of their lives.

"I don't know if we should fight this battle here," Tommy said, preparing himself for an onslaught of questions and demands. The last time they had left this planet, three of them were put into the hospital when they got back. It wasn't a pleasant memory for any of them and Tommy knew it was sure to cause some problems.

"You're suggesting another trip? Are you out of your mind?" Trini asked, in an enraged tone, as Billy rested his hand on her shoulder, in an attempt to calm the former yellow ranger down. Jason, Kim, and Billy had wound up in the hospital and she did not want to see that happen again, although she had always thought that Tommy felt the same way. Kim had been in the hospital. She had thought that the thought of her going back there would stem any enthusiam for him to venture to another planet. "Do you even remember what happened the last time? We almost got ourselves killed out there."

"Yeah, but it was worth it," Kim said, handing her shards to Billy. She had been one of the three in the hospital, and she knew that she did not regret that mission, at all. They had gotten the problem solved quickly and they all were alive. That was all that they could ask for. "Here you go, Billy. We're all alive, aren't we? And if Zordon told us to go, we would and wouldn't have a second thought about it. I agree with him, we don't have much of a choice. If that was their weakest, I don't want to bring their strongest here to battle."

"I'm still not convinced," Adam said, folding his arms across his chest. Over the past few years, he had lost a lot of his shyness and was much more willing to state his opinion on matters that could affect his life like this. "The two of you might just want to use this as an opportunity to catch up on things."

"I'm not going back to Florida," Kim said, glaring at Adam, and taking a purposeful step towards him, "so I will have plenty of time to 'catch up on things' as you would put it."

"This is exactly what Zordon didn't want to happen," Zack said, loud enough to stop the ones that were arguing dead in their tracks. The mention of Zordon's name seemed to bring guilt to their consciences, knowing how right Zack was. He wouldn't have wanted them fighting, he would have wanted them concentrating on what had to be done. "We're getting no where like this and I think it is best we decide something now, so we will be able to have some sort of crazy plan before they attack us again."

"Yeah, you're right," Adam said, after glancing around for approval from the others to continue. "Sometimes, I guess, we all get jealous of what people have that they want for themselves."

"It's no big deal," Kim said, with a smile and gave Adam a small hug.

"So, is everyone in?" Tommy asked, clapping his hands together to try to put an end to any more emotional conversations that might come around. They still had a lot of work left to do and could not afford anymore delays. If the creatures continued to attack them, then they would be pushed back even more and that was not something that they could really afford to have happen with school so close by and with the rest of them already surviving on what was left of their last weeks pay.

"Yeah, we all are, now it's time to get to work," Jason said, walking over and patting Tommy on the back. "Billy, what do you need us to do?"

"These have to be configured to their rightful owner or we will have problems arise from the error," Billy said, holding up two empty morphers. "As for the Zords, those will supposedly appear when the powers are given to their rightful owner. We will not have to build them or maintain them from the information that I have been able to dig up."

"You still didn't say what we could do to help you get all of this mess done," Aisha pointed out, with a bright smile. "And since you're going to have to drain their powers, it's gonna have to be us helping you. I know, it's scary considering who's left, but you don't have much of a choice."

"Yeah it is," Billy said, and had a few looks shot his way that made him squirm. "But I really only need Jason and Trini to help here. If the rest of you will keep an eye on them once they are hooked up, that'll help a lot."

"Billy, what do we have to do to be able to get our powers back?" Kim said, impatiently tapping her foot on the floor. "Because all of this talk of draining and such isn't getting us any closer to having our powers, again and you can't say that we won't need them."

"Well, we don't have much of a choice, it is too dangerous for the three of you to go into battle with these limited resources and it is also too dangerous to leave your old powers within you and give you the new ones as well. Do you think that you can take us draining them from you?" Billy asked, very hesitant to offer this option. He knew that it was going to be extremely painful and he didn't want to have to make them suffer through such an ordeal. He was also glad that he did not have to explain why he had to do this, as bringing up Zordon's memory always disturbed them some.

_Flashback to Billy's Conversation with Zordon_

"Zordon, what are you saying?" Billy asked, having never found himself more confused in all of his life. Zordon had just told him that he would have to do all of the activations of new powers and possibly have to drain some of the rangers powers. Both things sounded dangerous and he was not sure that the other rangers would even allow him to drain their powers after he described what it would be lilke to them.

"What I am telling you, is that you will have to be responsible for giving the powers to the new rangers and it will be very hard on you. I am almost certain that our attempts to keep the powers inside of all of you will have some residual effects and those will have to be gone to deal with a power of this magnitude," Zordon said, simply as Billy continued to stare up at him in awe. "It is going to be much more powerful than you have ever imagined and nothing old needs to be left. It would put the rangers in grave danger."

"Yes, Zordon," Billy said and took on the burden that would silently eat him alive for the next five years. He had never imagined that this would be put on him, but now it was the only thing he could think about and failing Zordon and the rest of the team had never been something he wanted to face.

_End of Flashback_

"Whatever you have to do," Tommy said, taking in a deep breath. This process did not sound like it was going to be pleasant and he knew that the sooner it was over with the better it would be for all of them. If they were going to have to recover, then they might as well get this crap over with. "Where do we need to go?"

"Come with me," Billy said, waving his hand towards three beds that had been set up earlier that day. He knew that the others had found it odd when he requested the cots be moved in, but now they saw the purpose that they served. "Don't fight it, it'll only make it worse."

"Alright," Kim said, as Billy attached a device to her wrist and one to her ankle as well.

"Let me know if it gets too rough, we can slow it down if we have to," Billy said, walking over to turn on the machine.

"I'll be fine, Billy," Kim said, with a smile, as she started to feel the draining begin and the pain that came along with it start. "Go ahead and get the others started."

"How long do you think this will take?" Rocky asked, as they walked away from where the three of them were lying. They had almost immediately began clutching their stomachs, but were not screaming out in pain, as of yet.

"All night, maybe longer. Those two," Billy said, indicating Tommy and Kim, "had more power left in them than Zack and they went through a battle today."

"How are you guys doing?" Aisha asked, after they had been lying there with the machines attached to them for almost an hour. The first moans and groans were beginning to escape their lips, which caused some concern among the other rangers. They did not think that it was supposed to be this bad.

"I've been better," Tommy said, opening his eyes and looking up at Aisha's concerned face.

He knew that this was a vast understatement, he could only think of one time he had felt worse and it had been in a very similar situation, but he also knew it was of no use to tell everyone exactly how he felt. There was nothing they could do to stop the pain, short of unhooking the machine, which was not an option at this point.

"What about the two of you?" Aisha asked, as Kim and Zack had remained silent. They had both fixed their faces to look calm, even though the inside of them was screaming for them to jerk the machines away from their bodies and run away from this experience, no matter what it might do to them. They didn't want to be a ranger this bad and if Tommy could talk then he must not be in near as much pain as them.

"Does feel like shit ring a bell?" Kim asked, taking a slow deep breath; her experience, of losing her powers, had been much milder last time. If this was what it felt like when Tommy lost his powers, she had to seriously wonder why in the world he would ever be a ranger again. "I don't know how much more I can have taken away."

"You'll be fine," Rocky said, trying to cheer them up, but finding himself becoming more concerned at the same time. This was not supposed to be as rough on them as it was turning out to be. Why did they have to have their powers taken away? Was it really that important that they start from scratch? "Why don't ya'll try to get some shut eye?"

"Because it is too painful to sleep," Zack said, as Aisha walked over to his bed and grabbed his hand in an attempt to comfort him in some way, they all just looked horrible, right now and there was nothing they could do about it.

"Maybe this would be a good time to stop all of this," Adam said, walking over to Billy, with concern clearly plastered across his face. Kim and Tommy being in that sort of pain disturbed him, sure they had all been through it before, but it was hard to deal with when you knew that they would be lying there the longest. "They're getting pretty weak."

"Zack, you think you can hold out for a few more minutes?" Billy asked, from across the command center.

He then started making his way over to the three beds and heard Tommy stifle a groan, as to not bother the others as much. Billy knew that if Tommy was close to losing his composure that Zack and Kim must be dying inside from the pain.

"Yeah, if that's all it's gonna take," Zack said, taking a deep breath of his own and looking up at Aisha. "You're lucky you don't have to go through this."

"It should only take about five more minutes," Billy said, walking in between Tommy and Kim's beds and hesitantly asked the question that was resting heavily on his mind. He had been worried about what it would take to get the powers out of them and now it seemed that his worries had been well founded. "How about the two of you?"

"How much longer?" Kim asked, opening her eyes very slowly. She saw Billy's eyes were not bright and chipper, which made her only fear the worst would be said in response to her question.

"It'll be awhile for both of you, sorry about that, but the two of you have a much more extensive network to keep your powers together. It seemed that you needed to be protected more than the rest of us," Billy said, as he watched both of their faces fall. He then saw Tommy sneak a look at Kim, before mentally preparing himself for the rest of the draining. He wanted to get all of this crap done at once. "If you want to stop for today, we will."

"No, I just want to get it over with," Tommy said, with a look of determination in his eyes, "maybe I can get some sleep, after awhile you get used to it."

"Good for you," Kim said, looking much more tired than Tommy, which did not really surprise any of them. Tommy could cope with things that none of them would ever dream to deal with and Kim was just lucky to be laying down and able to speak at this point in time. "I don't think I ever will."

"Sorry, Kim, but we have to do this," Billy said, with a sigh. "Do you want me to disconnect you?"

"No, but how much longer will it take before all of this is over?" Kim asked, and Billy gave her a weak smile.

"I don't know, why don't you and Tommy talk to each other?" Billy suggested, half-heartedly. He knew that they did have a lot to catch up on, so maybe it would distract them some. "At least it will keep you both awake."

"What is it?" Jason asked, seeing the clear concern on Billy's face, as he walked back over to Trini and him.

"Billy, what's wrong?" Trini asked, looking up after Jason's question to see Billy was pale and obviously worried.

"This isn't good, the two of them are resisting all of this," Billy said, hating to have to put the two of them through this painful experience.

"I don't know if they purposely are, they may just not be built to give up their powers easily. They've been through much more than the rest of us," Jason said, looking back down at the morpher he was working on, trying to remember what to do next.

"I know, but it's a big risk to not do this and infuse them with more power," Billy said, shaking his head. "But those are the first two we need to give powers, they could take care of a lot of those things by themselves and buy us more time to prepare for what Nicarni-Aso has planned."

"How much of a risk is it to go ahead and try to transfer their powers?" Trini asked, knowing how desperate their curtain position could become, within a matter of hours, if Nicarni-Aso decided to attack again.

"They could both die; do you think it's worth the risk now?" Billy snapped and then sighed at to himself for his actions. This was all very frustrating and it had been a long time since he had been under this much pressure to get something right.

"How much of a chance?" Trini asked after a moment of awkward silence, knowing that this might not even keep Tommy and Kim from going ahead and getting their new powers transferred.

"It's no use, Trini, I'm not risking killing either one of them. You saw what it was like when they were apart," Billy said, biting his lip, before continuing on. "There's no way in hell I'll even lay one hand on either one of them with even one ounce of residual powers left."

"Okay, okay, we get the point," Jason said, talking with his hands slightly outstretched. He did not want the fighting to start before Nicarni-Aso came back to battle. "So let's get these ready for when they finally get all of their powers removed."

"Fine," Billy said.

"Tommy, I have a question for you. What's with the haircut?" Kim asked. She had noticed the haircut when she first arrived, but never really thought to ask about it. Everyone knew that Kim had loved Tommy's long hair, but she thought that she could come to love the shorter hair too.

"It had to go when I got the job I have," Tommy said, with a little sigh. He did like his hair shorter, but he would do anything to have it long again.

"Will you please be quiet so the rest of us can try to sleep?" Zack asked, irritated.

"Sure, Zack," Kim said and she, as well as Tommy, went quiet.

That night was a long one for all of the rangers. Kim and Tommy did not sleep, which kept several of the others awake into the wee hours of the morning. Zack, who had been disconnected from the machine after a mere hour and a half, was in a very deep sleep and the only one able to get any rest. Billy, Trini, and Jason found themselves having to complete the same tasks repeatedly, with the result taking a full two hours of work on each morpher. When the next day dawned, they all thought it was all ready, little did they know that Nicarni-Aso planned to put a huge kink right in the middle of their plans.

AN: I know, it's a little bit of a cliff-hanger, but I promise it will all be completed in the rest of the story. Hope you enjoyed! Feel free to review!


	5. Day of Rest

Disclaimer: I do not own the Power Rangers. I just write this for fun.

**Daisyz:** Thanks a lot for taking your time to review. I really appreciate it!

**bexxy:** Thank you for reviewing!

**Mystical Illyera:** Thanks! Your story must be hectic with that many characters and I know that I couldn't pull that off. What's the name of your story?

**sarasidle3:** Thanks for the review, but I'm not gonna tell you how they'll turn out, but hopefully it won't upset anyone. That's the only clue I can give you, so just keep reading if you want to find out.

**Ghostwriter:** Thank you for reviewing.

**punk:** That's fine, thanks for the input and by the way, I'm from the South, so it goes with my natural dialectic. Thanks for taking your time to review, although you don't like the story.

Now, on with the story!

_Nicarni-Aso's home planet _

"Here you go, your majesty," Zefoid said, bowing as he entered Nicarni-Aso's lair, in order to ensure he would not be yelled at. He had been yelled at enough for the asoriods horrible battle and he did not wish to be yelled at any more. He didn't know why she blamed him for their poor attack, but he was trying to be sure that nothing else would cause Nicarni-Aso to break. "Is there anything else I might do for you?"

"Come here and listen well," Nicarni-Aso said, curling one finger towards her and Zefoid did as she asked.

"Yes, your majesty," Zefoid said.

"The asoriods are no longer strong enough to defeat the Power Rangers, two of them would have been able to destroy the whole attack force I sent out yesterday, without any powers to speak of," Nicarni-Aso said, as she was in a great deal of personal despair. She had thought her rise back to power would be easy, but these rangers were getting in her way. "What we need is a way to undoubtedly outnumber them."

"Your majesty, if I may make a suggestion," Zefoid said.

"Go ahead, Zefoid," Nicarni-Aso said, quite sharply.

"The asoriods have a long lost cousin, who just might be able to keep them busy while we ready all of our attack forces for a major battle," Zefoid said.

"Where, pray tell, can we find this cousin? And how shall it help us?" Nicarni-Aso asked, becoming increasingly interested.

"We can find it on Nonatasion and it has extensive defenses that the rangers will not be likely to break," Zefoid said.

"Go now, and talk to their leader, assemble as many as they see fit to send," Nicarni-Aso said.

"Yes, your majesty," Zefoid said and disappeared.

"Now, let's see what they are really made of," Nicarni-Aso said and laughed a laugh that can only be produced by someone as evil as her.

_Back on Earth _

"Everybody rise and shine, up and at 'em," Zack said, waking up cheerfully and was surprised to see none of the others looked to be awake, except for Tommy and Kim, who seemed to only be in pain. He had thought that they would surely follow him quickly in being taken off the machine, but he could still see it well attached to the both of them.

"Zack, none of us got a bit of sleep last night. Can you please be quiet?" Aisha asked sharply as Zack looked over to see Kim and Tommy had not been disconnected from the machine.

"Oh," Kim groaned, clutching her stomach.

"They've been groaning, moaning, yelling and screaming all night," Rocky said and then yawned, as he could still remember some of the worst activity from only a few hours before, but Billy did give them some sort of pain killer, so it had gotten better. He had no clue where Billy was finding all of this stuff, but he was sure that the others were more than appreciative for it. They had been able to get a precious few minutes of sleep then, which was why they were still functioning right now. "Didn't you hear any of it?"

"No, I can't say that I did. Why haven't they been disconnected yet?" Zack asked, knowing that an hour was very painful, much less a whole night connected to that damn machine.

"Because I've just now been able to confirm that they have no residual powers left inside of them," Billy said who had dark circles under his eyes, just like all the others. Zack could not help but feel lucky that he had been able to get some sleep, even though that did mean that he no longer had any sort of powers left in his body. "I'm going to unhook both of you now."

"Unhook her first, Billy," Tommy said, as Billy had reached to unhook him. He was hurting, but her moans had much more pain behind them, not that anyone else couldn't tell that. "She's suffered more."

"Alright," Billy said, walking over and disconnecting Kim.

"Thanks, Billy," Kim said, trying to sit up.

"I wouldn't suggest that at the moment," Billy said as Jason caught Kim from smacking into the floor, as she had no strength left inside of her.

"This should come with a warning label," Kim said, rubbing her temples, as Jason picked her up.

"Yeah," Jason said and laughed. "Will make you feel like shit, also causes dizziness and the loss of ability to stand and, or sit at will."

"That about covers it," Kim said, continuing to rub her temples as her head throbbed.

"Are you alright?" Tommy asked, turning his head to the side, trying to catch a glimspe of Kim.

"She'll be fine, Tommy," Billy said, blocking Tommy's view of Kim and disconnecting him as well. "The two of you need to get some rest, for the time being."

"You don't have to tell me twice," Tommy said, closing his eyes and quickly drifting off to sleep.

"Come on, you need to get some rest," Jason said, laying Kim down on the bed.

"How's Tommy?" Kim asked, looking up at her brother and he just shrugged. He figured that outright lying was the best thing for the situation, even if Kim did beat him to a bloody pulp about it later.

"He's fine, but both of you need to rest so you'll be able to get some of your strength back," Jason said, taking on his big brother tone with Kim.

"Okay," Kim said and then dozed off.

"We only have a limited amount of time to finish all of this off," Billy said, and then yawned a gigantic yawn.

"Let's face it, Billy, we're all too tired to finish this now," Trini said, rubbing her eyes as an attempt to keep herself awake, as she was barely able to hold herself upright as well. "Why don't we all get some rest and finish this when we wake up?"

"You win," Billy said, with a sleepy smile. "Let's go ahead and try to get some shut eye."

"Can't I do something?" Zack asked, feeling totally useless.

"It probably wouldn't hurt you to get some more sleep, too," Aisha said, stretching out on the floor along with everyone else.

"Alright, whatever you say," Zack said and joined them on the floor, as the only ones that needed to be on beds were Kim and Tommy.

_Nonatasion _

"What have you disturbed me for?" Lord Zedd asked, as this unknown creature landed in his lair, looking slightly frightened to be in his presence.

"We have a little nuisance on Earth that needs to be taken care of and my empress was wondering if you'd loan us the use of the amephors?" Zefoid asked, in one rather hurried breath, having sensed Lord Zedd's anger.

"Who on Earth are you trying to destroy?" Lord Zedd asked, having tried to forget the Power Rangers and what they had done to them.

"The Power Rangers," Zefoid said and saw a look of pure hatred rise in Lord Zedd's face.

"You may have my whole army, if need be," Lord Zedd said, quickly, "as long as you make sure you get rid of them, for good."

"We will," Zefoid said, with a great deal of confidence, although it seemed that Lord Zedd had been up against these people before and had not faired well. That did not make him feel any better at all. "Many thanks, Lord Zedd, my empress will be delighted."

"Well, do you have good news for me?" Nicarni-Aso asked, as Zefoid reappeared.

"Yes, Lord Zedd has agreed to let us use his whole army if we find the need for it, but he did have one stipulation," Zefoid said.

"What's that?" Nicarni-Aso asked, with that hideous smile of hers.

"We have to make sure they do not survive this," Zefoid said.

"I don't see why that should be a problem," Nicarni-Aso said. "Ready them for attack; we will begin this war on the Power Rangers turf."

AN: I know this chapter is a little bit shorter than the others, but I felt that ya'll needed to know some of what the evildoers were up to. Hope you enjoyed and feel free to review!


	6. New Powers

Disclaimer: I do not own the Power Rangers and that's about all you need to know.

**Ghostwriter:** Thanks again for reviewing!

**Daisyz:** Thanks for reviewing. I'll try to keep the chapters on the longer side, but some will have to be cut short, but that's just how it goes with writing any type of story.

**Jean:** Thank you so much for the review!

Now, on with the story!

All of the Power Rangers slept for the majority of that day, a few of them waking only long enough to go to the bathroom and eat some food to quiet their rumbling stomachs. The next morning, Jason was the first to awake and began working on what was left to be done on the morphers, as his mind needed something to do. He had been thinking of things that he knew should never have crossed his mind, but he couldn't help it. He hadn't expected to have to deal with these sorts of feelings on this mission.

Over the next few hours, the others woke up; some were more grumpy and groggy than others. They all hoped that their day was going to be rather peaceful, but unbeknownst to them Nicarni-Aso had a new opponent for them to try and conquer.

"It can't be morning already," Billy said, rolling over on top of Trini, before he realized what he had done and quickly moved away, "sorry Trini."

"It's alright," Trini said, as Billy moved even further over to the side and she sat up. After sleeping on the floor, she was quite sore, but knew that she would get over it after walking around for a little while, "we need to go ahead and get their morphers on line."

"I've already done that," Jason said, walking over to them with a smirk on his face. He was going to at least have some fun toying with the two of them about the relationship that no one knew about. He had thought that he would have been able to figure it out since he saw Billy frequently, but that did not seem to be the case. "I woke up about an hour ago and decided it was worth going ahead and doing this."

"That's great," Billy said, who was truly relieved to not have to deal with all of that mess now, as his mind was not functioning, as of yet.

"Yeah and I had some spare time to figure out what has been going on between certain people since I have not been talking to them lately ," Jason said, with raised eyebrows, as he looked at the two of them.

"We didn't say anything, did we?" Trini asked, as the pair of them turned red.

"No, but is there something you want to 'fess up to before the others get all of their senses about them? You know I don't mind making this loud," Jason said, as most of the others seemed to be struggling with the reality of actually having to wake up. It seemed that none of them were quite sure if their nightmares would become reality, since they did not know what was ahead. That was always the worst thing about these missions, the uncertainty.

"Maybe," Billy said, vaguely remembering Jason interrogating Kim and Tommy some years before when they were still trying to hide their relationship.

"You awake?" Tommy asked rolling over, feeling the full effects of having his powers drained for the first time. He now couldn't help but wonder if he had ever had them completely taken away before now and the only conclusion he came to was that he most certainly had not.

"Yeah, even though I don't want to be," Kim said, very slowly rubbing her eyes. "You think Jason's figured out what's going on between Billy and Trini?"

"Maybe, looks like he's interrogating them," Tommy said, sitting up and then immediately lying back down. When he sat up, he had become extremely dizzy and had only been able to hold himself upright by gripping the edges of the bed. "Don't do that, you'll faint again."

"So all we can do is lay here?" Kim asked, rolling herself over and feeling the aches that had set themselves into her body. "God, I'm sore."

"Yeah, so am I. We better get Billy over here so we can go ahead and get our powers back," Tommy said, hoping that would make them feel better, at this point he thought that almost anything would help to make them feel better, especially a re-infusion of powers.

"Billy, come on and get this going," Kim said trying to sit up, but soon she found herself lying on the cold, hard floor and she felt a bruise that was going to develope on her left hip. _'Why didn't I take Tommy's advice?'_ She thought to herself as she looked up at Tommy's bed, helplessly.

"I told you that it wasn't wise for you to try and sit up," Tommy said, standing, unsteadily, to help her up.

"But you didn't fall," Kim said, propping herself up against the bed, miserably. "This just isn't fair."

"Well in all honesty he is a little bit bigger than you and that counts in something like this, Pinkie. Here drink all of this and then we'll let you morph into your new powers," Billy said, bringing two drinks that looked like chocolate milk over to them.

"Oh, chocolate," Kim said, with bright eyes and then took a sip. Her face contorted into a disgusted look, as she dared to glance at Billy, who was struggling not to laugh. "Well, it looked like chocolate."

"The faster you drink it, the sooner we'll be able to get this over with," Billy said, laughing to himself at the look on both of their faces.

"Cheers," Tommy said and they both gulped the substance down. "That was horrible, what is it?"

"An energy drink," Kim said, having an unreadable expression on her face. "They used to give me these in Florida, but they weren't nice enough to try and disguise it."

"Sorry, but it had to be done," Billy said, knowing that he had brought back a memory that would have best been kept in the far corners of Kim's mind, at least for the time being. There would be a time when she talked about Florida, but that time had not come for her, yet. "Here's your morphers."

"Okay," Tommy said, as Billy handed them their morphers. "What do we do?"

"Same as when we were all rangers, except we're going to use our colors. We don't know what our Zords will be, yet," Billy said, looking at both of them. "Go ahead, it'll make you feel better, I promise."

"Alright, it's Morphin' Time," they said, in unison, "pink, white, power up."

"Now this is how it's supposed to be," Kim said jumping up and down. They had only a few minutes to celebrate the new powers before the alarm, showing a breech of security, went off. They had expected to have some problems, but not right after they had recieved their powers. "This feels great. Who are we going to have to fight?"

"Those," Jason said, nodding his head towards the viewing globe. They were now scrambling to get the rest of the morphers on line, so they would be able to help as soon as possible. "And if you can buy us some more time, we'd really appreciate it."

"How long do you need?" Tommy asked, from under his helmet. The white ranger suit, looked almost identical to the first he had ever worn, except for one difference, he did not have the chest shield that had been there in the years before they had to get the Ninjetti powers.

"As long as you can give us. It's gonna be harder to restore everyone else's powers," Billy said, as he handed out the morphers to the others.

"Okay, we'll do that, let's go," Kim said, preparing to teleport to the battle site and her hand was pulled away from her wrist by a black gloved hand.

"I'm coming too," Zack said, appearing clad in all black, next to the other two rangers. "I was drained, just like the two of you. Now, what are you waiting for?"

"Nothing, let's go," Tommy said, and the three of them teleported to an old abandoned building on the outskirts of Reefside. Nicarni-Aso did not appear to them immediately, but she soon came out from behind a pile of crates with an army of new creatures walking behind her.

"Nice to see you again, but I've brought a new challenge for you this time, so to speak," Nicarni-Aso said, motioning to the amephors that were standing around her. "These are some friends of mine, I hope that you can handle them without too much trouble."

"The riods must not have done a good enough job for her," Kim said, looking at these creatures that seemed to have a hard, almost metallic looking skin covering. She, as well as the others, knew that in this business usually the book cover was in fact the book and these did not look like they were going to back down easily. "Good Lord and to think we have to try them after just getting our powers back."

"Yeah," Tommy said, as they continued to size up their newest opponent and it suddenly disappeared on them. This couldn't be a good sign if they were not able to see the things coming towards them. "Where'd they go?"

"They have some special powers, invisibility being the least of your worries," Nicarni-Aso said, and right before she disappeared continued with a maniacal, "have fun."

"Billy, do we have any specialties we don't know of?" Tommy asked, into his communicator, as Kim tried to keep him from pacing around. The last thing they needed was for him to be ambushed by a being that they couldn't even be sure to hit if they tried. "Namely the ability to see invisible creatures."

"Holy shit," Jason said, seeing that the screen was blank of the creatures that had been there mere seconds before. "Who has that one?"

"It's me, isn't it?" Rocky asked, and Billy nodded quickly. "Well, come on. They need my help, here."

"Tommy, hold your ground. We'll be there as soon as possible," Billy responded, skipping over the others and going to work on only Rocky.

"You don't have to worry about that," Tommy said, pacing around, while ignoring Kim's outstretched hand,"but we're going to need back up soon. These things will surely be able to figure out that we can't see them any time now."

"Don't worry, we'll be there soon," Jason said, as Billy showed Rocky how to activate his power. The activation sequence just like everyone else's only had to be done once and then the powers would come and go at the will of their owner.

"We better stay together," Kim said, bringing the pacing Tommy back to the reality of the situation.

"Yeah, you're right," Tommy said, walking back over to where Kim and Zack stood, back to back. "So much for taking this battle there."

"Let's just worry about getting rid of these creeps first," Kim said, smiling to herself at how this was the one thing he could think to talk about at a moment like this. Most people would be losing their lunch just thinking that they were going to have to fight these things in the first place. "Then, we'll worry about having to change our plan."

"Tommy, we're sending Rocky in. He'll be able to help you," Jason said, as the green ranger teleported in beside Tommy.

"Oh shit, we're in trouble," Rocky said, seeing a small army of amephors with his power. "Let's see what'll pull them out of hiding."

"Tell me where to aim," Zack said, bringing out a modified power axe that Billy had assigned him.

"At the center of that oak tree for starters," Rocky said and Zack fired, which left the amephors disarmed and useless because of the new powers that weapon had been given.

"Get ready for them," Tommy said, as the small army began charging towards them.

"I am. Let's do what we were all brought back here for," Kim said, engaging in a battle with the first amephor that approached her.

"Oh hell no," Zack yelled, as one of the amephors ripped his suit to shreds, with its powerful claws. He had never been one to like when this happened and it had happened far too soon if you asked him. "You're going to pay for that."

The remaining rangers continued to teleport in as their new powers were given to them. The amephors proved a much harder challenger than expected, but were still being easily dispensed of by the nine of them. Then, Nicarni-Aso must have had the Earth shattering idea of trying to capture one of them and bring the rest into a trap of her own.

"Little purple ranger, not doing so well now, are you?" Nicarni-Aso asked, having grabbed Trini by the arms, as the amephors filed in front of her, being able to keep the other rangers away. They could all see where this was going to lead if they didn't get through the wall soon. "Doesn't matter, really, I'm sure someone here will care. Amephors cease your attack and come with me. If you ever want to see your friend again, you'll come to my planet and fight, my way."

"No. No!" Billy yelled, as Nicarni-Aso disappeared, still holding Trini hostage. "You can't take her!"

"Billy!" Jason said, half-heartedly grabbing one of his arms while Tommy grabbed the other, in an attempt to restrain the blue ranger from running himself out as he tried to find where they had taken her. "You've got to calm down, man. We'll be able to save her, but for the time being we are going, to have to do as she says. Come on, let's get back to the command center."

"I promise you, she hurts one hair on Trini's head and all of this following her plan bull shit will go out the window," Billy said, as they turned him loose and looked at him, shocked by what he had said. "All of you ready for the power that Zordon wanted us to hold back?"

"Yeah, we are," Aisha said and they all teleported back to the command center, to begin there work.

AN: That's it for this one. I know that it's a little bit of a cliffhanger and I'll try not to do this too often, but sometimes it can't be helped. Hope you enjoyed and feel free to review!


	7. Zordon's Secrets

Disclaimer: I do not own the Power Rangers. I simply write this for fun.

**Ghostwriter:** Thanks and I'm sorry this chapter took so long to get out, but I went back and added a prologue and I also made some small changes to the previous chapters.

**Grey17:** Since your review, I have gone back over the previous chapter and tried to make things clearer. I have also added a prologue and that will hopefully explain were the story originates from, if not sorry, there is only so much I can do. I hope this chapter will be better and thank you for the constructive criticism.

**SailorEclipse-Blackout:** Thank you and I'm going to try to keep it up!

Now, on with the story!

"Billy, what powers are you talking about? Hello, Billy, " Kim said, waving her arms in front of his face, trying to get his attention. Billy had immediately gone to rummage through his bag once they had teleported back to the command center and had not listened to any of them. It seemed that he had something that was going to help them ten-fold, if he could only find it.

"These," Billy said, holding up eight crystals, as the ninth one dropped to the ground, but did not shatter as most of them had expected it to do. "Zordon left them with me and I have only now realized what they can do. They will act as an energy charge for every morpher here. How could I be so stupid as to not realize that?"

"Which means we can boost our energies on demand?" Jason asked, as he looked around at the food he had been gathering for their trip. He had taken this job, upon their arrival in the command center, as he knew he would be no good at helping Billy anymore. Billy was in a zone of his own now and there was not much else that they could do, as he was going to do everything in his own way. "That'll be awesome."

"What can we do?" Adam asked Tommy, as most of the other leaders seemed preoccupied at the moment and he was definitely the most approachable as going up to Jason or Billy seemed to be a death wish.

"Start loading all of our equipment," Tommy said, as he looked around at some machines they would be taking with them, as Billy thought they were needed. He didn't agree with half of it, but he didn't want to mention to Billy that he might possibly be too prepared for the worst. "And I would definitely make sure that the food supply is more than adequate. Trini probably won't be fed for the whole time she is there."

"Alright," Rocky said and Adam and he started doing as they had been told, by a ranger who would truly know about that type of capture.

"Billy, how about you let Jason and I do the conversions?" Kim asked, noticing Billy had dropped one gem repeatedly.

"No, I need to keep my mind busy. I have to have something to focus on or I'll break down," Billy said, continuing to struggle with the yellow gem.

"How about I do that one, then?" Kim asked, putting a hand over Billy's trembling one to get his full attention.

"Alright," Billy said, handing it over, although that was really the last thing he wanted to do at the moment. "I've never told her."

"You'll get the chance to, I promise," Kim said and wiped away a silent tear.

Trini had always been there for her, through the breakup and everything else, and just the thought of not being able to see her again, was enough to send her into sobs. She had decided that she had to be strong, because Billy would be doing enough of that for all of them.

Their journey, to the planet Asoriotan, was going to take them four long days; in which they knew irreparable damage could be done to Trini. They all had agreed, before the left, each would have a guard night to patrol and keep the vessel safe.

_Kim and Tommy's Shift _

"It's becoming depressing down there," Kim said, pulling on a white sweater of Tommy's to try to keep the cold out that so desperately wanted to attack her on the upper deck of their ship. The mood of the ship had changed drastically since they first boarded, most had been semi-excited, but now they were becoming worried, about Trini and some other problems they had learned of in the short time they had been on the ship.

"Yeah, it is," Tommy said, putting his arm around her and smiling at how she looked in his sweater. It had been a long time since he had seen this sweater, and he wondered how often she had worn it over all of these years, as it had gone to her with Florida, not that he had cared back then. It just surprised him that it had not been thrown away once they had broken up. At least he knew that she had still cared, even if she didn't show it in a normal way. "You warm enough?"

"I'm fine, Tommy. I'm just worried about Billy; the poor guy is really bent out of shape over this. I didn't realize that Trini meant so much to him," Kim said, looking up at Tommy, to see that he had a far away look in his eyes. She was about to ask him what he was thinking about when, he decided to speak.

"I'd be the same way if they'd taken you away. I've been the exact same way before. I can sympathize with how he feels," Tommy said and realized the magnitude these words carried with them, in more than one way. Although they had made up, they weren't dating each other, now Tommy knew that before, and even now it was love he had felt for Kim. He just wished he hadn't taken so damn long to realize it and for the two of them to talk about it.

"That's nice to know," Kim said with a smile, she could only hope that this was the beginning of Tommy forgiving her. After everything, they had been through, she was willing to settle for friends, just to have him back in her life. She knew that he might never want her to be his significant other again, but she could live with that.

"What really made you come back here?" Tommy asked, having the sudden urge to know the whole truth. He knew that the rangers was not the whole story. If Jason had had to threaten her it had to be much more than just saving the Earth, although that was a huge task to put in front of them.

"The fact that Earth would be destroyed if I didn't," Kim said and winked, letting him know that she didn't want to continue with this right now. Her emotions were running way too strong for her to be able to go into the whole story without breaking down and all of them needed to stay as together as they could right now. "Zordon made it pretty clear that this was necessary and that I couldn't skip out on it, even if I really wanted to do that."

"So, it didn't have anything to do with me?" Tommy asked, becoming slightly depressed.

"You know I can't say that in front of them, even though the thought of seeing you kept my ass on the plane," Kim said, sighing. Well, there was the other thing of Jason dragging her to Reefside, but Kim didn't think it would be best to mention that to Tommy right now. She was sure that he knew what Jason had done, but he didn't want to admit to it either. "I've missed all of this too much."

"The power or everything else?" Tommy asked, having a thought of what her answer might be. Even after five years, he still knew her all too well, which did scare her some.

"Both, but that's not abnormal in this business, is it?" Kim asked, wondering if he felt the same.

"So, I've missed this too. Who hasn't?" Tommy asked, with a bitter smile, as he saw it reflected in her face as well. "We've all given up too much to not want out lives like this again. Hell, this is our life."

"Yeah and if we fail, what's going to happen?" Kim asked, becoming truly worried about this, as she only trusted talking to Tommy about it. She had never been on a mission without Zordon backing her before now and this was the riskiest thing they had ever done. They were completely on their own this time and that did not make her comfortable at all.

"It's never happened before and I don't intend for it to happen now," Tommy said, confidently, although he did feel the same worry as she did at the moment. There was no one left to stop Nicarni-Aso and if they did not succeed then that would mean that the Earth would be destroyed. "We'll save her, if it's the last thing I do."

"Same here," Kim said, "he's got it bad, doesn't he?"

"Not as bad as I do," Tommy said and smiled. "I'm going to sound selfish, but I really don't care about that right now. I'm glad that they didn't take you away from me again. I don't think I would be able to have the same amount of composure as Billy. "

"So, you do sound a little, actually really selfish, but I understand that," Kim said. "I just wouldn't mention that when Billy's around."

"I know better than that," Tommy said and they sat down on some old crates.

"You should," Jason said, walking up to them and taking a seat on the deck.

"What are you doing walking around at this time of night?" Tommy asked, having assumed that all of the other rangers had gone to sleep a few hours before.

"I couldn't sleep, I was thinking about things back home. There's a lot I have to do when we get back," Jason said with a sigh.

"What do you have to do?" Kim asked, grabbing Tommy's hand and this time Tommy did not take it away, as she had made the first move. "You didn't leave someone to come here, did you?"

"Yeah, I did. Your best friend, to be exact," Jason said and Tommy immediately realized who Jason was talking about.

"So, she's move on. Thank God, I can get on with my life without worrying about her," Tommy said.

"I didn't say that, I'm just saying we're friends now. I'm still not sure if she is over you and I'm not sure if I feel anything more than friendship," Jason said, then nodded towards Tommy and Kim's intertwined hands. "I guess she'll have to get used to that again."

"She knew that this was how it would probably be," Tommy said, thinking back on Kat's last conversation with him. She had made it very clear that she thought Tommy had been a fool to not go chase after Kim and she was right. He had been a fool and he should have taken her advice to go after Kim then, but he had thought it would be a useless cause. "She'd have been a fool to do what she did and not realize it."

"Would you mind clueing me in on who you are talking about?" Kim asked, becoming rather aggravated. This other girl seemed to be someone they should all know, but for the life of her she did not have a clue who it was.

"Katherine," Jason said and watched Kim's face turn to an odd shade of red. He had seen the pink ranger blow a gasket before and was praying she wasn't in the mood to fight, he didn't have the strength left to do so now.

"How do you know her?" Kim asked, feeling her face burn, but managing to keep herself calm. Kat had never been her favorite person, but she had also helped save her life, so she couldn't complain all too much.

"We met after she broke up with Tommy and we became friends. I can't guarantee that Katherine is over Tommy, but I know that I have fallen hard, for someone," Jason said, with a sad smile. "And I'm in the same boat as Billy, I haven't told her yet."

"I'm happy for you," Tommy said, with a smile. "I just hope that she feels the same."

"Me too," Jason said, thinking about his friend and what his confession might do to the whole ranger team. It could possibly destroy the friendship he had with all of them, but life was too precious to waste and he had found that out too late. "So when are the two of you going to start dating again?"

"It'll be awhile Jason, I have the feeling that I have to gain Tommy's trust back," Kim said, looking up at Tommy, who did not seem to completely agree with her.

"Maybe a little bit," Tommy said, "but I'm sure that you are already close to being forgiven."

"That's not fair, I feel like I should have to do more," Kim said, as she saw Jason smile at her being her usual self. "I know that I put you through hell and it doesn't seem fair that you can forgive me this easily."

"Just keep this up and you'll be fine. I don't want you to get the bright idea about saving me and get yourself killed. I will never forgive myself if that happens," Tommy said, taking a serious tone with her as he thought that thought might have flown through her mind lately.

"Alright," Kim said, looking down at her feet.

"This is what I've been waiting for, for a long time," Jason said, with a smile still lingering, although his eyes did not glitter like they usually did when he was happy. "But the two of you had too much pride for this to happen sooner, didn't you?"

"Maybe," Kim said with a smile and Jason looked at Kim with raised eyebrows. "Okay, so I did have too much pride, but I didn't want to come back and mess up Tommy's life anymore than I already have."

"You might have about three years ago, but that was the last time I thought I had gotten over you. Kat made me realize that I would never get over you and that's when I started writing letters again," Tommy said, looking at her. "Crazy, isn't it? I get my heart broken twice, but I somehow figure out who I truly love."

"Yeah, but it took me five years without you to get all of my shit straight and see how much I screwed up," Kim said, becoming angry with herself.

"It didn't take you that long," Jason said standing up and taking a seat on the other side of Kim, trying to keep her from becoming any more angry at herself, which was always a possibility with her. "I remember you calling and telling me that you had made the biggest mistake of your life only six months later."

"I talked to you and most of the other Power Rangers about it, but I hadn't talked to Tommy since before I wrote that stupid letter," Kim said, avoiding eye contact with Tommy.

"It's funny how we both wasted all of this time and now we're almost like we used to be," Tommy said, with a laugh. "I've been thinking a lot about Angel Grove lately."

"So have I, but the place is just where all of those memories occurred," Kim said, leaning on Tommy's shoulder.

"I'm going back downstairs," Jason announced and stood up rather suddenly, he did not want to sit and reminise about what had once been their lives. He was doing enough of that on his own without having their memories come in as well. "Don't do anything you might regret in the morning, alright?"

"We won't," Tommy promised with a look of displeasure in his eyes.

"Good," Jason said. "Have a good rest of the night."

"Where are you living now, Tommy?" Kim asked, curious as to why he was thinking about Angel Grove. She had always assumed that he had stayed in Angel Grove over all of these years and having no contact with him, didn't give her any reason to not believe it, as none of the others told her anything about him.

"In Reefside, I've been working at the high school for almost a year now," Tommy said.

"You enjoy it?" Kim asked, slightly shocked at his choice of profession and now understanding his earlier statement about why his hair was so short now. He didn't think he would be making a good impression with shoulder length hair, even though Kim was quite sure some of his students wouldn't have minded one bit, namely the female ones.

"Yeah, I do. Now, do you understand how my hair went along with my job? I couldn't exactly have shoulder lenght hair and be a respectable high school teacher. I'd have too many students throwing themselves at me, although cutting the hair didn't exactly stop that from happening," Tommy said, laughing to himself about Kim's remark from two days ago.

"Yeah, I really do, but how did you get away for this long?" Kim asked, forgetting about teachers having the summer off, even though she had chosen the profession herself.

"It's summer break, so I don't have to work for at least two months," Tommy explained with a smile that made Kim's heart melt. "That is the best part about teaching. Did you ever go to college?"

"Yeah and I think it's funny that we choose to both major in education," Kim said and Tommy quickly snatched his head down to look at Kim. "Except I got mine in elementary educationl, high school kids would run all over me if I taught them. I tend to be too nice to them."

"Do you need a job?" Tommy asked, wondering to himself what it would be like to have Kim as a co-worker.

"I will if I decide to stay here, which I think I will, then of course I will need a job. Do they have any openings?" Kim asked, noticing Tommy's extreme interest in this subject. She had the tiniest inclination that he would be more than happy to have her stay.

"I really don't know about anything at the elementary school, but you won't have to get a job right away, if you wanted to come live with me," Tommy offered.

"Tommy, I couldn't do that. I just got back and it's just too much to ask you to do right now," Kim said, thankful, but still having some of her stubbornness left in her.

"You don't have to, but I'm just offering, since I know how hard it is to get a job in this business," Tommy said, giving Kim's hand a reassuring squeeze.

"I'll think about it, Tommy, but I'm not making any promises," Kim said.

"Alright, I'll take a maybe over a flat out no any day," Tommy said with a smile and they sat there in silence for the rest of the night.

AN: I hope you like this chapter. It's been so long since I have written that I got anxious to get this chapter out. Feel free to review, good or bad. Thanks for reading!


	8. Planning

Disclaimer: I do not own the Power Rangers. I simply write stories for fun.

**Anonymous:** I'll try to add more parts about the evildoers, but I make no guarantees that I will, even though there is a small write up on them in this chapter. Thanks for the review!

**Ghostwriter:** Thanks for reviewing again!

Now on with the story:)

"How was your shift?" Aisha asked, as Kim and Tommy walked back downstairs, looking fairly tired, but they did not look like they had had to fight anything, which was a relief. They had all been worried about an attack, but it seemed that everything had gone smoothly, so far.

"Uneventful," Kim said, and then yawned, "has Nicarni-Aso tried to contact us overnight?"

"No, she hasn't," Billy said, looking as if he had not slept any the night before. They had hoped he would get rest, but he had not been able to do that at all, from what they could tell. "But no news is good news at this point."

"Yeah, it is. Trust me," Tommy said, rubbing his hands together as an attempt to warm up, from the frigid air on the outer deck of the ship. He had not been wise enough to take a jacket, but they also didn't want to go back downstairs, as they would possibly think something was wrong. They knew that they didn't need to make the others panic. They were going to have enough of that when they finally got where they were going. "Anyone up for breakfast?"

"Oh, yeah. That would be nice," Jason said as his stomach growled, which caused a few of them to smile. "What? I can't help that I'm hungry."

"No, you can't help being hungry now, but it seems like your always hungry, Jase," Kim said, with a laugh, the first one they had heard since Trini was captured. "Come on, I'll cook."

_Asoriotan _

"They will never come and get you, my pretty. They would be fools to try and come this far to save one, unimportant, person. Your planet is in danger, why would they leave your planet for an unknown amount of time, just for you?" Nicarni-Aso spat, through the bars that Trini was behind.

"You don't know them very well, do you? They will come and you won't be able to stop them from destroying you," Trini said in a determined tone, as she glared at the woman. She was not going to let them break her spirit.

"That shows what you know. The amephors and asoriods will protect me until they all are dead. Your 'friends' will not have enough power to destroy them. Then, find and battle with me," Nicarni-Aso said, confident, although she knew very little about the newer rangers. "Why don't you just come over to my side? It would be so much easier on you."

"I never will. As long as there is hope in this lifetime, I will never join you," Trini said, defiantly. "Do your worst, I'm sure that you will only make my will stronger."

"You have no idea," Nicarni-Aso said, "but as you wish. Zefoid, bring me the anotions."

_Back on the Vessel _

"We need to come up with a plan," Jason said, after they had cleaned up from breakfast, which had stopped the grumbling in his stomach.

"Yeah, we do," Tommy said, looking over at Billy, hoping he had been able to think, through the stress that he was under right now. "Billy, you have any ideas?"

"I've done some research on Nicarni-Aso and her cronies; she seems to have an unlimited amount of resources, but each of her defenses have a deadly weakness, that we have to exploit. The asoriods have a weak back. The amephors cannot handle Zack's power axe and I have the feeling that most of our other weapons will have the same effect on them," Billy said, with a half-hearted smile. "In the past, it looks as if Nicarni-Aso has depended upon these two weapons without ever having to battle by herself. I suggest that our best fighters stay and fight the amephors and asoriods, while the rest of us try to locate Trini and Nicarni-Aso."

"So, Jason and Tommy need to stay back and fight," Kim said, as Billy stared at her, in shock. "What? What did I say wrong?"

"Nothing, except the fact you don't trust yourself enough to fight," Billy said. "The people I would suggest stay behind would be Tommy, Kim, and Jason, that's it. If you were to get into trouble you would have to fend for yourselves."

"We'll do it," Jason said, after silently asking Kim and Tommy's permission with his eyes. "The rest of you just make sure you get to Trini in time."

"I'm going to continue to do research that will hopefully help you throughout your mission," Billy said, walking off.

"Just remember it's our night to patrol the ship," Jason said, to Billy's back.

"Alright," Billy said, and continued walking.

"Is he going to be alright?" Aisha asked, as Billy had just gotten out of earshot.

"Do you remember what I was like when Kim was captured?" Tommy asked.

"Yeah, I do," Aisha said.

"He's that bad," Tommy said, as all of them watched how Kim could only stare at him. "There's not much we can do but wait and hope."

"And not mention this around Billy," Rocky said.

"That would be a very wise thing to do," Tommy said. "I'm going to try to get an idea of how many of those things Nicarni-Aso has to use for a battle."

"Alright," Kim said and gave Tommy's hand a squeeze before he went over to talk with Billy some more.

"Kim, don't put yourself in a position to get hurt," Adam said, as he saw Tommy was truly scared, knowing Kim would be fighting along side only Jason and himself.

"Why not?" Kim asked, completely confused by this statement.

"We'll lose the only advantage that we have. If Tommy becomes too distracted to fight, somebody will die," Aisha said sadly. "He loves you, he may not be willing to admit it, but he loves you, Kim."

_Jason, Zack and Billy's Shift _

"This reminds me of old times way too much," Zack said, as Billy, Jason and he walked around on their patrol.

"Yeah, it does," Jason said, "except this time things are different than before. Our job has become much harder since then. There's people we all love that could get hurt if we don't succeed."

"It's always been this way, Jason," Billy said, after a long silence among the three friends. "We all have been in danger of getting ourselves killed since the first time we ever morphed. This isn't the first time one of our own has been captured by an evil leader. You, Kim and Tommy have all been through this before, now it's Trini. We've been lucky so far and it makes you wonder when our luck will run out."

"You can't believe all of this is pure luck," Zack, the voice of reason, said, astonished that Billy would even begin to think like this. He, of all people, had never really believed in luck. He had always believed that hard work would get them through and now he was talking about what luck they had. "We all have a gift and with it comes some risks. We all had to accept this long ago. Don't worry about us failing, we will get her back."

"Thanks," Billy said and then went back to his own thoughts, as they continued on their patrol.

_Jason's POV _

The rest of our shift was just as uneventful as Tommy and Kim's shift was last night. After the first conversation we had, there wasn't much left that we wanted to talk about. It seemed that we all drifted off into our own little world of concerns. I know that my thoughts were troubling about what Nicarni-Aso might do to Trini, but I could only imagine what Billy was going through right now.

AN: I hope you enjoyed this chapter. It's a lot shorter than the usual, but I thought it necessary. Feel free to review and thanks for reading!


	9. No Longer Found

Disclaimer: I do not own the Power Rangers. I write stories for the fun of it.

**hasongirl14:** Thanks for the review and I'll try to keep the work on the same level or above.

**jean:** Thanks for reviewing!

**Ghostwriter:** Thanks for reviewing again!

Now, on with the story!

"Hey guys," Kim greeted Jason, Zack, and Billy as they returned to the sleeping quarters, with only Billy looking exhausted. Jason and Zack had managed to get a few moments of sleep during the night, but Billy was still refusing to acknowledge the fact that he was even tired.

"Hey," Zack said, with a sleepy smile and a yawn. "Any news?"

"Yeah, there actually has been some," Kim said, very hesitantly and found herself avoiding eye contact with Billy. She didn't want to tell him this, especially considering everything else that was going on.

"What's the news?" Billy asked, coming out of a trance like state, as he heard what they said.

"I don't exactly know how to say this," Kim said wringing her hands, as Billy walked the remaining distance in two long strides.

"Don't bull shit with me, Kim. What's happened to her?" Billy asked, putting his hands on Kim's shoulders and seeing her shake at the reality of it all.

"They are draining her powers, Billy," Tommy said, walking up behind Kim, which made Billy look at him instead of Kimberly. He could tell that she was not comfortable telling him this and he didn't like it either, but Kim had already had it rough enough without disappointing Billy. "We can barely get a read on her anymore."

"So they're making Trini untraceable?" Billy asked, as his voiced cracked, for the first time since this had all started. "Have they moved her any?"

"No and we've plotted her position, but they may be smart enough to move her before we arrive," Adam said jumping into the conversation as well.

"Nicarni-Aso is not that smart," Billy said, adamantly, as they could tell he was only hoping that was the truth. "Tell me the moment that her signal stops completely. She'll only be able to survive there so long without her powers.

"We'll do that," Rocky said, as Billy walked up the steps to get some more fresh air.

"Do you think someone should try and talk to him?" Kim asked, as she couldn't help but worry about him.

"Give him sometime Kim, then you can try talking to him," Tommy said, as he knew that he was not the most receptive person to any type of conversation when she had been captured. "But he may not be in the mood to talk to anyone."

"You can't say we didn't try though," Kim said, with a sigh, resolving herself to stay downstairs for a few more minutes.

_'This can't be happening again'_ Billy thought, barely able to keep himself together anymore. No one knew how he felt at this moment. The only one who could possibly come close was Tommy and he was four years removed from his ordeal. He then found himself thinking about how much this relationship meant to him.

Trini and Billy's relationship had changed Billy in many ways. Two years ago, he would have been upset, but not to this degree. It was on a fateful day in March, two years before; that they had ran into each other, literally. Trini, who had decided to major in accounting, had been working at TransAm for about a month. Billy had gone into Aeronautical Engineering, which had kept him in Stanford for the past three years without a break.

He finally got his first break and decided that he wanted to go visit Angel Grove for the weekend. Trini, after a busy day at work, had been rushing home to relax. Billy, as fate would have it, was enjoying a walk through the Angel Grove business district. He had found out that all of the others had moved away, so he had nothing better to do on this unusually cool March day. Then, he bumped into a woman with long black hair, who fell to the ground from the shock. When he went to help her up, Billy soon found himself face to face with one of his best friends.

Talk about being shocked, neither one could believe that they had bumped into the other. Billy noticed how much Trini had changed over the past three years and she made the same observation in him, as well. They, were no longer teens, and did not feel as if there was anyone left to judge the two of them. That night, they went out to dinner and that is where it started for Billy.

It seems crazy, doesn't it? For Trini and Billy, it wasn't as crazy as it appears to the rest of the world. Billy started doing some things that he hadn't done since high school. One example is that he actually started working out again and he found himself making a point to return to Angel Grove more often. He tried lying to himself at first; saying he missed the atmosphere, but Billy slowly began to realize what was bringing him back home. Trini, she was bringing him back home; she was becoming much more essential to his life.

When Nicarni-Aso and her cronies took Trini, Billy knew what it must have been like for Tommy all those years ago. He now knows what it feels like to have the one person that makes you feel complete gone, with the possibility of never seeing them again.

"Billy," Kim said walking up behind him and seeing that he was obviously distressed and very much in his own imaginary world. "Do you want to talk?"

"Oh, hey Kim," Billy said bringing himself out of his thoughts and looking over to see the look on his friend's face.

"I've never seen you like this before, Billy," Kim said, full of concern for her longtime friend and fellow ranger. "You have never been one to show much emotion, you sure you don't want to talk about it?"

"I don't really want to, there's not much to talk about," Billy said, trying to pull himself together. He knew that this was a lie, but it was easier to lie than have to face the reality of what could happen.

"Alright, have it your way, but all of us are here if you need us," Kim said, giving Billy a pat on the back before returning downstairs.

"Thanks," Billy said, continuing to look at nothing in particular, as he barely heard her leave.

"What did he say?" Tommy asked looking up to see Kim coming back downstairs.

"Not much," Kim said sitting down beside Tommy and reaching out for his hand. "Were you like this?"

"Yeah, only much worse," Adam said, as Tommy shot him a 'go to hell' look, which Kim couldn't help but notice. "We got a lot of looks like that one and he wouldn't talk to any of us. At least Billy will talk to us some."

"So I have it bad, we all know that by now," Tommy said, turning slightly red.

"Still embarrassed to admit it, aren't you?" Jason asked with a laugh.

"Jason," Tommy said, warningly as all of the others watched on, as they knew whatever happened would be hilarious.

"Gosh, I've got some of the funniest stories to tell you, Kim. Like the time when Tommy won a race and…" Jason suddenly had a hand over his mouth, threatening to smother him if he so much as attempted to finish this story.

"I think that is my business to tell," Tommy said, still holding his hand over Jason's mouth, while the rest of the Power Rangers were rolling on the floor with laughter.

"Um-hmm," Jason mumbled as Tommy released him from his death grip and he stumbled for a few steps, as he walked away from Tommy. "You've got to lighten up some."

"That wasn't a very wise thing to say, Jase," Kim said as Tommy picked Jason up and toted him outside.

"Give us a little while. I've got some things I need to straighten out with my dear friend here," Tommy said, indicating Jason, who he had thrown over his shoulder.

"Don't hurt him, Tommy," Kim said, trying to hide a smile.

"I won't," Tommy said, as Jason and he exited the room.

"Jason is going to be dead," Kim said smiling and then suddenly burst into laughter.

"What's so funny?" Adam asked, bewildered at how they were acting.

"Let's just say that this has happened before," Zack said, between laughs of his own.

_Adam, Rocky, and Aisha's Shift _

"Do you really see the use in us doing this tonight?" Aisha asked, having become frustrated over the last two days. This trip was just taking too long and Trini could really be in trouble by now.

"Yeah, because our luck would be that we'd get attacked if we didn't do this," Rocky said, jokingly. "How are you and Zack doing?"

"Same as usual," Aisha said, with a sigh. "He's not ready to settle down and I am, to say the least."

"Don't worry about it," Adam said, putting an arm around her and feeling her move closer to him. "Sometimes it takes guys a little while longer to figure out what they want. Look at Tommy and Kim."

"That's different Adam. We've never questioned if the two of them were meant to be together," Aisha said, as he couldn't help but agree with her on that one. "I guess it'll work itself out, even if it does not turn out how I want it to."

"Yeah it will," Rocky said, as he had been through this too many times before and couldn't help but think about Tanya. "Do you ever feel out of place with the other six of them?"

"Of course," Aisha said, looking up at Rocky, wondering where he was going with this, "most of them have known each other since they were toddlers. We're the new kids on the block; we've been that for years."

"It is more than that," Rocky said, looking at them, in all seriousness, "we weren't there when everything began."

"But Zordon thought that we were supposed to help them here and we are. It's a no questions asked situation, we are meant to be here. We would have never gotten our powers if we weren't supposed to be here," Aisha said, as Zack walked around the corner.

"What's going on?" Zack asked, as Adam removed his arm from Aisha's shoulder, almost without thinking about it.

"Not much," Adam said, as he caught how Zack was looking at him. "Are they still able to trace Trini?"

"No, that's what I came up here to tell you," Zack said, as he watched Aisha, cover her eyes for a brief moment before looking back up at him. "We lost her signal a few minutes ago. Watch out for Billy, he may be walking around some."

"Poor Billy," Aisha said, full of sympathy for the fellow ranger, in his time of need.

"He'll be alright, it is not like she's gone forever. We've had things like this happen before," Zack said.

"But she could be and it is rough knowing all of that," Aisha said, sounding as if she had experience in this area, although she did not. "Well at least it seems like it would be like that."

"Call us if anything shows up," Zack said retreating back downstairs, as he was not sure if he needed to stayup there anymore.

"We will," Aisha said sullenly.

"Why do you do this to yourself?" Adam asked having seen this occur more often lately. "Why do you not move on and find someone who wants to love you?"

"It is not that easy, Adam. I liked Zack for a long time before anything happened and I don't want to give up on it so easily," Aisha said, biting her lip, in an attempt to control her emotions. "I don't know if I could go back to being just friends."

"Come here," Rocky said, as Aisha had distanced herself from the other two.

"Yes, Rocky," Aisha said walking towards him.

"Whatever happens next, you need to have everything straightened out with those you care about. It's not a good time to leave things unsaid and unfinished," Rocky said, looking into Aisha's eyes, as she understood exactly what he was saying. "It may cause you pain, but it is best for everything to be out on the table with no regrets going into something like this."

"But Rocky…" Aisha said and Rocky put one finger over her lips, silencing any objections.

"No buts, Aisha. You have to do what needs to be done," Rocky said.

AN: That's all for this chapter. Hope you enjoyed! Thanks for reading and feel free to review!


	10. Preparation

Disclaimer: I do not own the Power Rangers. I just like to write stories about these characters.

**Ghostwriter:** Thanks for the review and here is the next chapter. 

Now, on with the story!

_Trini's Thoughts _

This is the beginning of my fourth day here, in Nicarni-Aso's lair, and I am beginning to wonder if they will ever show up to save me. I have always trusted them to come through for me, but I never thought someone would want to capture me.

It doesn't make sense, most people like Nicarni-Aso would have gone after someone like Tommy or Kim or even Jason, not me or any of the others, now that I think about it. I guess that goes to show you that she is a different brand of evil, if you can believe that one. I really miss all of them and I hope that they will get here soon. I don't know how much longer I can hold out without going crazy or without Nicarni-Aso doing something worse than torturing me.

"No!" Tommy yelled out in his sleep, which disrupted the silence of the resting rangers.

His dreams, since this mission had started, had become much more violent, often ending with someone being killed and that someone was usually Kim. It made him more uncomfortable about this mission, since they had done some research and the research did not seem too promising for any of them. Not much was known about this planet and the secrets it had protected within it and that information made him extremely uncomfortable.

"Tommy, wake up," Kim said, shaking his shoulder, with a sense of panic evident in her voice. She had never seen him yell out before while he was sleeping and was becoming worried, this had happened the last two nights and it scared her more every time that it happened. "Come on, wake up."

"You're alright," Tommy said, shaking himself out of his disturbing nightmare and looking at her. He then propped himself up on an elbow and put his hand on Kim's cheek, while revealing his bare chest. The relief Tommy was feeling shone through, as his face relaxed upon seeing Kim, perfectly fine.

"Yeah, I'm fine Tommy. It was only a dream," Kim said giving Tommy a hug and a kiss on the forehead, it had been a long time since she had seen him like this and it was not comforting. They were supposed to be leaving today and they all needed to be focused on what was ahead, not on the nightmares that were ruling their sleep.

"Yeah, you're right. What time is it?" Tommy asked sitting upright, not wanting to return to dreams that only made him scream out and wake up in a cold sweat.

"About five o'clock," Kim said, looking over at the digital clock and squinting at it in order to be able to focus on the numbers. She had been sleeping fine until he had yelled out, which scared her. She hated when things happened to make him like this. "I'm going to go ahead and start breakfast. We have a very long battle ahead of us today and possibly tomorrow if something goes wrong."

"I'll help," Tommy said, getting up to reveal he only had on boxers, which shocked Kim, to begin with.

"Why don't you install those extra weapons for Jason, you, and I?" Kim suggested, taking a glance at Tommy and then quickly looking away. He certainly had done a good job of keeping himself in shape, to say the least and she wasn't sure she could trust herself in a room with him, alone, for much longer.

"Alright," Tommy said walking over to where Billy had left the weapons, the night before. He had walked out about five minutes after they lost Trini's signal and had completely forgot about his last minute upgrades that he had planned on doing for Tommy, Kim, and Jason. "You trust me to do this?"

"Well, you do teach science, don't you?" Kim asked, with a smile and a wink, before she disappeared into the kitchen. "If you're that worried wake up Jason and he'll help you with it."

"That is not a wise thing to do at this hour of the morning, so I guess I can manage," Tommy said and went to work on the modifications. They worked in silence for the next hour and then the patrollers walked back downstairs, looking groggy, but ready for the day ahead.

"Good morning," Aisha said walking downstairs and taking a seat at the huge oval table. She would have usually helped, but did not feel up to it this morning, not after having spent the whole night walking around.

"Good morning, ya'll ready for breakfast?" Kim asked, moving a stack of pancakes onto the table.

"Of course," Rocky said sitting down at the table, happily. He may have been very tired, but he was as hungry as ever.

"Jase, you better get in here or you won't have any food to eat!" Kim yelled, into the next room, knowing that the red and green ranger both shared the hobby of eating.

"I'm coming," Jason said jogging into the kitchen, still in his pajama bottoms, with Tommy and Zack hot on his heels, as they did not want to be left out on this.

"You'd think this was a strip club the way you came running in here," Kim said with a laugh and Aisha joined in on that joke as well. The boys had been known to do some wild things and this little joke had been going for about seven years. Although, it had been a long time since Kim had started it.

"Of course they do, they have been deprived for the last three days," Aisha said as Kim and her continued to laugh. It was sure good to have the humor back, even if the times were not so good, but it seemed the times were never good when they saw each other anymore.

"Don't you remember how much I like to eat?" Jason asked, looking at the two women, who were obviously enjoying the looks on all of the males' faces and the old joke between the female rangers, a little too much. He desperately wanted to change the subject, so he asked Billy a question that would hopefully stop the giggling. "Did you finish those modifications last night , Billy?"

"No, I didn't," Billy said, quietly, as they were shocked about it. His mind had not been able to focus on anything lately, but he knew that he'd do the modifications now that he didn't have any other choice. He had planned on doing it last night, but then they lost Trini's signal and he could not concentrate at all after that. "I will after we eat."

"I already did it, Billy," Tommy said while several of his fellow rangers looked at him as if he had done a somersault on top of the table and had started tap dancing around. "What? You don't believe I can do this?"

"No, it's just a little bit of a surprise that you did something like that without there being an explosion to go off," Zack said, with wide eyes and the others nodded in agreement, except Kim.

"Yeah, it is," Billy said, barely able to believe the words that had come out of Tommy's mouth. He knew Tommy had majored in Paleontology, but he did not know if that qualified him for the modifications that needed to be made on the fighters' morphers.

"Go ahead and check my work Billy. I'd rather you have to change it than it backfire on any of us," Tommy said, with an exasperated sigh.

"Alright," Billy said and went back to eating his breakfast.

"Zack," Aisha said, softly.

"Yeah," Zack said, focusing his gaze on her, instead of his plate.

"I need to talk to you," Aisha said in a voice barely above a whisper, but he somehow managed to hear it.

"Okay," Zack said, with a look of confusion. She had never asked him to talk before now. "After breakfast?"

"Sounds good to me," Aisha said, with a sad smile. She was not looking forward to the conversation she had to have with him, even if it did go well.

"What would be our best strategy?" Kim asked, sitting down between Jason and Tommy. This question had been up in the air for the past three days and now they had to come up with some sort of crazy plan to try to get through it.

"I don't know," Jason said, in between mouthfuls of food. "Our blasters have more power, but…"

"I'm not as good at hand to hand combat as the two of you. The two of you have had years more experience," Kim finished for Jason.

She had already admitted that it had been years since she had done any martial arts and was very wary because there would be a lot of hand to hand combat involved in this. But Billy was confident, so she didn't question the decision to let her fight any more.

"How about we just fight until we have nothing left?" Tommy asked, as he could think of nothing else. "That's all that anyone can expect out of us, we are human after all."

"Okay, but remember we have to have each others back, because we are likely to be outnumbered by more than a thousand of those things and we have no back up," Kim said, finding Tommy's hand and taking hold of it, as she was truly nervous about all of this. "Come on."

"Okay," Tommy said, as Kim pulled him into the other room. "What's going on?"

"I need to talk to you," Kim said and then took a deep breath. She did not want to sound desperate, but she also knew that both of them could die today and everything needed to be on the table before either did anything careless, as they were likely to do. "If anything happens today, I want you to know that I still love you and I'm sorry that I ever hurt you, Tommy."

"Beautiful," Tommy said, tracing the outline of Kim's face with his index finger. He had been waiting to hear those words for so long and now that he had heard them, he knew everything would be fine, even if it did take them sometime for them to get back to like they used to be. "I forgive you for everything and I love you too. We have to get to work now, but remind me when we get home that there is something we need to talk about."

"Okay, handsome," Kim said with a smile as the others began to file out of the kitchen, which ruined the moment.

"Let's get to work," Jason said and they all began to pack survival kits, except for Zack and Aisha who sneaked back outside.

"What did you need to talk about?" Zack asked as they walked around the outer deck. The silence was almost deafening and he had the feeling that whatever she was going to say, he wouldn't like it in the least bit.

"Something Rocky made me realize," Aisha said, trying to keep herself from crying. _'Why did I have to fall so hard?'_ Aisha thought to herself, as she saw that she had caught Zack's full attention, by one simple statement. She knew he felt the same, but lately most would have thought that they were on the verge of breaking up.

"What did he make you realize?" Zack asked, becoming slightly concerned.

He knew that he had taken her for granted lately, but she had never confronted him about it before. Now that she had, he was scared he would lose her permanently if he didn't start showing how he felt, to her and the rest of the world.

"That there are some things in life that don't need to go unsaid," Aisha said, daring to look Zack in the eyes, and she saw confusion mixed with fear, "like the way I feel."

"Aisha, I didn't mean to…" Zack said and was abruptly cut off.

"I don't want this to end, really I don't but it is really hard to have a one sided relationship," Aisha said, no longer fighting the tears that had now over took her. "If you're not ready for a long term commitment, it may be best that we take a break. I love you, Zack, but I can't go on living like this. I know that this is a bad time, but I didn't want anything to happen to you and I never get a chance to tell you how I felt."

Zack was rendered speechless by Aisha's sudden confession. He had long suspected that she had felt this way, but hearing all of this got to him. He knew how he felt as well and had been quite surprised, as he had started to feel the same.

"I never meant to make you feel like this," Zack said, pulling Aisha into a well-deserved hug. He knew that he had his work cut out for him, but they would hopefully make it through this andhis job would start as soon as they got back to Earth. "I'm just not good at expressing how I feel, most of the time. I'm going to try to do better, I really care about you and I want this to work out, but there is a lot that is going on in both of our lives, at the moment. I hate to be the one to bring this up but, our duties have to be taken care of before we can try to make amends."

"But you want to try to make this work?" Aisha asked looking up at him, with pleading eyes and he nodded his head yes.

"Yes, now we better get back downstairs before they send out a search party. You know how they are," Zack said and smiled down at her before grabbing her hand and leading her downstairs.

"Now that everyone is here, I just have some last minute things to tell you. We will arrive at Asoriotan in approximately twenty minutes," Billy said, having gathered all of the rangers for a last minute briefing. He knew the others had done some limited research, but he also knew if anything went awry, Trini would be in an unknown amount of trouble. Tommy, Kim, and Jason also had the burden of breaking into all of this first and they knew that there was to be absolutely no back up, until the others had gotten Trini out of harms way. "Jason, Tommy, Kim, you know what your job is and my advice is do not morph until you have to, it will save your powers. You know their weaknesses, exploit them and keep them busy as long as you can."

"We will," Jason said in a serious tone. He was as determined as Billy to get Trini back, even if it meant that he had to die to do that and if he did die, his secret would die with him.

"Zack, Aisha, Rocky, Adam, we are going to try to find Trini while they take care of the asoriods and the amephors. I have plotted a course to get us to Nicarni-Aso's lair. We will probably have to do battle with the asoriods and amephors along the way, but it will not be to the same extent as those three," Billy said, nodding his head towards Jason, Tommy, and Kim. "At least one of us has to be willing to do anything necessary to save Trini and kill Nicarni-Aso. I know that the risks have definitely increased, but we still have a job to do. If Nicarni-Aso is not destroyed, the world as we know it will cease to exist."

"What if we need our Zords?" Adam asked, thinking back to all of the times Zords had been necessary to a mission and wondering if they would come this far away from home.

"They will come," Billy said, confidently, as he knew that they were well equipped to make it there quickly. "Everyone needs to be prepared to disembark as soon as we land. You need to all be prepared for anything to happen, we are on her turf and no matter how much research you do there is always something you forget to think about."

"Alright," Tommy said, picking up his, Jason's and Kim's modified morphers and handing each to its rightful owner. Billy had decided it would be necessary to make their actvation sequences much shorter, which might save them in the end. He knew that they had no choice and if things were as bad as they thought it would be then it was the best thing that they could do. "We should probably go first, so we can distract them from the rest of you."

"Yeah," Billy said and let the three of them quickly ascend the stairs and disappear onto the outer deck.

"So this is Nicarni-Aso's home planet," Jason said, catching the first glimpse of the planet. It looked as if the majority of the planet was composed of something similar to red clay with patches of a substance that looked similar to granite. Nicarni-Aso had never thought of protecting her 'home' because she never thought someone would try to invade her territory, it just didn't seem possible. "She couldn't have made her home more noticeable, could she?"

"Billy was right, she doesn't have the sense to move Trini or even try to conceal her home, but that still doesn't mean this will be easy," Tommy said, in utter disbelief. Lord Zedd and Rita may have been stupid, but this could top even their most hideous blunder. "You okay?"

"Yeah, just a little bit nervous," Kim said, biting on one of her pink-polished fingernails. The pressure would get to her soon if she hadn't had two of her best friends on each side of her.

"Well, it's time to go, those nerves will just have to wait," Jason said with a smile.

AN: That's it for this one! Next chapter will mostly be the battle, I hope you'll read it! Thanks for reading and feel free to review!


	11. The First Battle of Many

Disclaimer: I do not own the Power Rangers, at all. I do, however, own the characters Nicarni-Aso, Zefoid, the amephors, and the asoriods and the planets of Asoriotan and Nonatasion.

**jedi4jesus19:** Thank you very much for the review. Spring Break is about to end, so the chapters are going to slow down for awhile, considering I have to go back to school.

**Phoenix:** Thanks for the review and to answer your questions. They have already received their new powers, which are slightly more powerful than the ones they had before and they have new ones that will appear as the story goes on.

**Daisyz:** Thanks for the review!

**Ghostwriter:** Thanks for reviewing again!

Now, on with the story!

_Kim's Thoughts _

When we landed on Asoriotan, I was expecting for the asoriods and amephors to appear immediately and attack us for everything we were worth , but they didn't. We actually made good progress on the planet for the first few hours we were there, which is not what I envisioned when Zordon told us about defeating an evil that would threaten our home planet with utter destruction. I don't know if Nicarni-Aso is as strong as Zordon thought she was, but she does seem to have a record that would surely make anyone scared, even us.

Tommy and I were doing research yesterday and discovered that this isn't the first time Nicarni-Aso has pulled a group of Power Rangers into her grasps and played with their minds a little bit, trying to press her advantage. She came to our planet, years ago, and tried to fight the Power Rangers there, which did not work out so well for her.

That was over a thousand years ago, and she was captured and put away, not that it matters now. She escaped from the cavern they had constructed to keep her in and Zordon felt her presence come back, that was why he told us. Why the nine of us? I'll never know the answer, but if she has the powers that she once had, we will be in more danger than any of us thought we would be on this mission.

"Oh, wow. What is this place?" Tommy asked, looking at the oasis, which was obviously going to be our first obstacle of the day. It was really beautiful, but it was a shame that it was not being used as a beautiful place. It was being used to decieve the eye, in every way possible.

"Tommy, this is the aisle of deception," Jason said, looking at the map that Billy had made for them. The map contained summaries on all oases in the area, which was a blessing because of what Nicarni-Aso used them for. If Billy hadn't done this, they would have been in deep trouble, because things would happen that were very unexpected and would upset them even more. They were supposed to try to stay as calm as possible, but it did not seem at all possible. "All of our worst fears will play out in front of us as we go through the aisle. We have to resist the temptation to stop the fear from occurring and it's possible that some of us will be pulled into the others fears. Nicarni-Aso will surely know that we are here when actions start to occur in there."

"You ready for this?" Tommy asked, looking down at Kim. Jason, was already heading into the aisle of deception, and did not need to be asked about what he wanted to do. It was very obvious to the two of them what he had in mind and they had been hoping to avoid this place all together.

"Yeah, let's go," Kim said and they began walking through the aisle, fearful of what would be brought out of their subconscious, each having things there that the others did not know about and would have been best kept that way.

_Nicarni-Aso's Lair_

"Your majesty, we have intruders. Do you wish to find out who they are?" Zefoid asked as he walked into the dark, gloomy room, trying to not disturb her any more than he would be already.

Nicarni-Aso, had never been one to decorate her surroundings, and in her mansion, the dark curtains were never opened. She liked things to be desolate and grim, because that was what her innermost core truly was. In the years before she was captured, her reign of terror had grown and she had only one planet left to capture, Earth. This is where she made her fatal error; she took the battle to them, to the Power Rangers home and she had never been the same since. She was soon captured and vowed to one-day get out and do the one thing she had been incapable of doing, capture the Earth and destroy the Power Rangers. Unbeknownst to her, Zordon knew of her intentions and upon her escape found the group of rangers, he wanted to protect the Earth, even if he was no longer there to instruct them anymore.

"So, your friends did show up? It took them long enough," Nicarni-Aso said, looking over at Trini, with a sickening grin. She now was pleased that she would be watching them die. "How many and where are they?"

She was such a typical Power Ranger, fighting the extraction of her powers, only to have to give them up in the end. To Nicarni-Aso, it only proved that she was going to win, no matter what they threw at her. She was happy to have to clash against them again and in her joy forgot some simple things, like making her house undetectable.

"Those three came to find her," Zefoid said, making a bubble appear with an image of Jason, Tommy, and Kim inside of it. They were plodding along, in regular clothing, having decided to save their energy by waiting to morph. They were going to need all of the extra energy that they could muster once they found the monsters. Tommy had on a white tank and a pair of khaki shorts, Jason had on his normal red T-shirt and a pair of jeans, and Kim had on a pink halter top with a pair of blue jean shorts. At the sight of her friends, Trini's spirits soared, knowing that help was on the way, and wondering to herself were the others were, as they woud surely not have stayed on Earth, "and they are headed for the aisle of deception, your majesty."

"If they make it through, make sure that the amephors are waiting for them," Nicarni-Aso said, knowing that it was highly unlikely for anyone to cross through this oasis without much emotional damage being done to them. Although she did appear ignorant, she knew that their powers ran off emotions and if their emotions were in the wrong place, they were more likely to be killed by the amephors, which would be a good start. "What fools! They think that three little rangers can overtake me. Ha! Say good-bye to your friends, this may be the last time you can see them alive."

"I doubt that," Trini said, feeling some hope rise up inside of her. Trini may not have had her powers any longer, but she could do one thing, make Nicarni-Aso second-guess herself, as her plan had obvious flaws.

_Aisle of Deception _

"Billy," Tommy said into his communicator. The aisle had not registered that they were there yet, so it was safe to do this because they would not have to worry about being attacked from their own fears.

"Go ahead, Tommy," Billy's voice said out of the communicator speaker, as they were on the outer deck and waiting for the okay to move out.

"Go ahead and move out, but don't come through the aisle of deception, we're keeping it busy for the time being," Tommy said, as they seemed to walk into a scene in the middle of this deceitfully beautiful oasis.

"Alright," Billy said and released his communicator from his grasp. He had been waiting for them to be able to move out, but he was worried that all of their hard work would be for nothing by the time that they got to Nicarni-Aso's lair. "It's time for us to leave."

"Good," Zack said, as Billy, Aisha, Rocky, Adam, and he began the journey to Nicarni-Aso's lair. Their course was to be a little bit different from the fighting force, they were to avoid all of Nicarni-Aso's traps and try to surprise her, as much as humanly possible.

"This isn't going to be good, Jason," Tommy said, recognizing the scene that was in front of them.

This was when they had to leave Earth to retrieve the Ninja powers and the dinosaur bones were lying all over the ground, only in his fears that day had never turned out good, someone had always died. Tommy was already getting nervous at seeing his worst fear in real life and refused to look at Kim, knowing that she would be waltzing in, in a few moments.

"Where'd Kim go?" Jason asked, looking at where Kim had stood mere seconds before and then at Tommy, who had turned deathly pale over the past few seconds.

This was not looking good, because if Tommy fainted there would only be one person to wake him up and Jason knew he would have great difficulty doing that. As heknew that all of the ways to wake him up that popped up in his head would probably cause him bodily harm.

"Into my fear," Tommy muttered, pushing Jason back into a tree and pinning him there. He then looked Jason in the eyes and made sure he had heard the description right. He had been known for taking things the wrong way, but he was certain that this was not one of those times. He was sure that he had understood all of the directions he had been given. "All we can do is watch and not react, right?"

"Yeah, what's going to happen?" Jason asked, as the bones began to move themselves. The pink Ninja ranger walked into the scenes with the other rangers around her. They had gotten about halfway through when the skeletons had completely reassembled themselves and started going after the rangers. One singled the pink ranger out and went after her. All of the other rangers were fighting and Jason could now tell what was going to happen and he did not like it at all. He didn't want to see this happen when they were about to go through the hell of fighting later. "No way."

"Tommy!" Kim yelled, finding herself at a dead end. She was doing her best to try and keep the thing away, but it was too strong for her and she desperately needed Tommy's or anyone's help at the moment. "Tommy, help me!"

"Hold on, Kim," the white ranger said, fighting his way around one of the other demon possessed skeletons. The white ranger looked up, in time to see the skeleton spear Kim with one of his horns, he stopped dead in his tracks. The other rangers then heard a anguished yell, that they had never imagined Tommy could be capable of. "No!"

"Tommy, we have to go," Billy said, holding the white ranger back, after they had defeated the remaining skeletons. Billy knew that this mission had to be continued, but he also knew that it was now in jeopardy because their leader would no longer be able to focus. "She's gone."

"No, it can't be," the white ranger said, breaking free of Billy's grip and ran over to were the bloody, pink ranger lay. She still felt warm as he hugged her to him and he could only hope that she wasn't gone. Wasn't a dead person supposed to be cold to the touch? "Come on, beautiful, wake up, please. You can't leave me now, not after everything we have been through, come on Beautiful, wake up. Please wake up."

"We have to go," Adam said, as Rocky and he each took an arm and dragged the crying white ranger away. "She's gone."

"We can't leave her, not like this," the white ranger said and the aisle went dark.

"Tommy," the white ranger said, pulling off his mask to reveal himself, to Tommy who had tears streaming down his cheeks.Tommy had decided there was not any use in trying to hide it anymore and simply tried to wipe the tears away, but they continued to be replaced by new ones. He had never imagined having to see that in real life and he could only hope that it would stay a figment of his imagination. "You have passed this test and being that you're me you will win this war, I have no doubt in that. Go, pick Kim up and she will be fine, remember your powers will never fail you unless your heart is not willing to finish the job."

"What was that about?" Jason asked, as Tommy ran to pick Kim up off the ground, his heart still racing.

Jason had not been with them on that particular mission and it went without saying that his best friend had not disposed this information to him before. After seeing what might have happened, he understood why it had not been mentioned to him at all. He would have worried himself sick over something that had already happened and he had absolutely no control over that.

"What about?" Tommy asked, picking Kim up and looking over at Jason. He was so scared that he couldn't answer the simple question without it being fully explained, if Kim did not wake up he did not know what he would do.

"Your fear," Jason said, shocked. He knew that they had only made up right before this mission and it really made him wonder how long Tommy had secretly been wishing for this to happen, so Kim would be his again. Jason was also finding it hard to grasp, how Tommy could fear something like this, knowing how many times it had nearly come true in the past.

"My biggest fear was always letting Kim down and her dying because of it. I can't help it," Tommy said, as Kim looked up at him, still clad in her pink ninja suit. She was dazed and extremely confused as to why Tommy was carrying her, at the moment, but she was sure he'd explain it to her eventually. He also looked as if he was crying and that worried her even more. What had happened to cause him to act like this?

"So that is what you fear most?" Jason said, quite surprised. He had always thought Tommy would fear something with a much heavier burden, but he had always been Kim's knight in shining armor, after all.

"Yeah, it is," Tommy said, having recomposed himself after a few deep breaths.

"What is?" Kim piped up as Tommy almost dropped her from the shock of hearing her voice. She did not look at her garment yet; otherwise, she might have figured it out, without asking Tommy and Jason.

"Don't scare me like that," Tommy said with a smile and a sigh of relief. He was glad that his old self had told him the truth or he'd have had to go back and kick his own ass.

"Whose fear is this?" Kim asked as Tommy put her down. The aisle had changed itself into Angel Grove Park, and after a few minutes of standing there a much younger Jason and Trini walked into the park. They seemed to be enjoying an afternoon stroll in the park, but that was soon to come to a halt, as it always did in those days.

"It's mine," Jason said, biting his lip and moving himself as far away from the pair as he could. This was not what he had thought the aisle would choose and he was going to have a lot of explaining to do after Tommy and Kim saw this one. He knew he wouldn't take it well and it was all going to prove what he most feared, he would never get a chance to tell Trini the truth.

"Jason," Tommy said and Kim grabbed his arm to silence him from saying anymore. This was obviously something that was going to bewilder them and the only way they would get any explanation, was to let Jason do whatever he needed to. Some puddies appeared, which were obviously of Rita's doing. She must have thought that the attack would work, but Rita had always failed.

"These things are stronger than they used to be," Trini said, as she was attacked by three of the puddies. Jason then ran over to help her with the puddies and managed to do so for a little while.

"Yeah, but the others will be here soon. We just have to hold out a little longer," the young Jason said, as the puddies decided to restrain him, which was hard for them considering how much struggling he was doing against their grips. On this particular day, Rita was not after Jason; she was after just Trini.

"Yeah, you're right," Trini said, kicking one of the puddies and trying to make her way over to help Jason escape from his captors.

She never made it. They attacked her too soon. Jason then fell onto his hands and knees and started to sob uncontrollably, as Kim and Tommy watched on in shock. Nothing too bad had happened, but it seemed that it wasn't going to stay that way for long.

"Trini, watch out," the young Jason yelled, as a net was thrown over Trini and she, as well as the puddies, disappeared. Tommy and Kim stood there, in shock, as they watched one of their best friends fought to keep his emotions in check. "No!"

"Jason, what happened?" a young Tommy asked, running up to him, as the other rangers followed him. Jason was walking towards a tree and looked to be enraged.

"She's gone, they took Trini," the young Jason said and punched the tree, not noticing the injuries he had sustained to his hand. "I didn't do a damn thing to help her, Tommy! Now, Rita has her and I don't know if we'll be able to get her back."

"You gotta calm down, it's gonna be alright," the young Tommy said and the aisle suddenly went dark.

"Jason," the young Trini said walking up to Jason, who looked helplessly up at her, from his kneeling position. "You have to keep going, I'll always be here for you. There isn't much time left before Nicarni-Aso puts the finishing touches on her plan and returns to her full power. I'll be fine, until you get to me and I'll be more than happy to see you when all of you rescue me, do not give up on this mission, Jason. Zordon would never send us on an impossible mission and you know that. I love you, Jason, don't forget that."

"Trini," Jason said, reaching a hand out at where the image had been and then began to wipe his eyes. Tommy and Kim exchanged a glance and then looked back at Jason. Unlike the two of them, his worst nightmare had become a living nightmare, which made it even harder to stand.

"We never knew," Kim said, giving Jason a hug and then pulled him along as they continued to walk in only the dim moonlight that the oasis had chosen. She had only seen Jason cry one other time in all the years that they had been friends and that was when his grandfather died, fifteen years ago. "Are you going to be alright?"

"I'll be fine, Kim," Jason said, giving her a small smile, but knowing that she did not believe him in the least bit. "It's just worse because now she has Billy and I don't think I will ever get a chance to tell her the truth."

"It's gonna be fine, Jason. If it's meant to be, then something will happen to let you know that. Trust me," Kim said, looking over at Tommy and giving him a smile.

She had never thought she would be able to look at him again, without feeling deep regret and seeing the pain in his eyes. What a miracle forgiveness is, she was now able to look at Tommy and know that it may be discussed in more depth later, but that he did still love her.

"Well, there's only one fear left," Tommy said as Jason and he looked at Kim. She could only stare at Tommy and try to keep the tears from overwhelming her, already.

"Yeah, I know," Kim said, knowing deep down what her fear was going to be. Tommy then disappeared, as the aisle changed itself into Tommy's old house. "I don't know if I can be as good as the two of you."

"This was all a lie!" A Tommy clad in red, yelled forcefully looking down at a Kim with a leotard and shorts on. She was shaking at the force and amount of anger that filled him, she had never seen him like this before and she was not sure if she would make it through this. "How could you do this to me?"

"Tommy, I'm sorry. Please let me explain," the young Kim begged, as the real Kim slumped against Jason's shoulder and started sobbing, uncontrollably.

"No, you don't deserve the chance to explain this away," Tommy said, viciously. "I never want to see you again! Leave me alone!"

"Tommy, please let me explain," the young Kim said, with tears now streaming down her cheeks.

"No, there is no more explaining," Tommy said as Katherine walked up behind him and put her arms around his waist. "I've moved on, maybe you should too."

"No, Tommy please give me a second chance," the young Kim said, trying to grab his hand.

"There are no second chances when you do something like this," Tommy said and wrenched his hand away. "You should have thought about that before you did this."

"Please, Tommy," Kim begged as Tommy and Kim began to fade away, while Katherine made her way over to where Jason stood, while managing to keep Kim from crumbling to the ground.

"Kimberly, you have succeeded in more than one way over the last few days," Katherine said in her Australian accent and smiled at Kim, who was now looking at her. "You are what Tommy has always needed, believe me I've dated him and it wasn't that great for either of us. Don't worry, all of the other rangers will be with you and those of us not lucky enough to be chosen will be waiting for you when you return back to Earth. Jason, I know this is not your fear, but I advise you to follow your heart and do not worry about breaking mine."

"Thank you, Kat," Kim said, feeling horrible for the envy she had felt towards someone who had known the truth for a long time, maybe even longer that Tommy and she had known.

"Well, I guess that means she won't be mad when we get back," Tommy said, reappearing. He then gave her a hug and wiped away the tears that continued to flow. The tears did not subside immeadiately, so he let her cry for a little while before deciding they could not take another fear apiece. Jason and he were about as emotionally drained as they had ever been and Kim, well let's just say she still hadn't pulled herself back together. "Let's get out of here, I don't want this place to bring out another fear of mine."

"This is just a wonderful place," Jason said, as Tommy and he had decided it would be easier to carry Kim out of the aisle of deception. She was still trying to stifle sobs and it was slowing them up considerably as she had stumbled along. "It managed to bring all of us to tears."

"Holy shit," Kim said, seeing full army of amephors, her nerves then came back full force and it was obvious to the other two as well. "I think we underestimated how many she had at her disposal."

"Don't morph yet," Jason said, as he saw Kim automatically reach for her morpher. He knew that if they were not careful now, they might not have enough power left to finish the job later. That was what they were really needed for, if they could hold these things up for just a few more minutes with their powers, they buy the others enough time to get to Trini. "Let's take as many as we can out without having to morph, remember we have to conserve our energy."

"Okay," Tommy said and they started towards the amephors.

The battle was soon raging between the amephors and themselves. Although they had been in battle with the amephors before, this was much worse and they were indeed outnumbered by more than a thousand. Their will to fight was present, but it seemed to be taking a back seat, as their emotions were still not completely in battle mode.

"How did Billy expect us to do this?" Kim yelled over to Tommy, who was combating five amephors on his own. They had never doubted Billy before, but it was becoming obvious that they were now. They had never seen anything like this before, ever in their experience as rangers.

"I don't know, but you better keep moving or one of them will…" Tommy said, as Kim was thrown into him by one amephor, which shocked her. Kim looked more dazed than she had in a long time and the first wave of worry went through Tommy's mind, he did not want her to get hurt. "Do that."

"We need to morph. We're getting our asses whooped, right now," Kim yelled, in Jason's general direction. He was struggling as much as they were and he knew it was useless to continue to fight without morphing.

"Yeah," Jason said, as he was thrown within two feet of where Kim and Tommy stood. He shook the shock off rather quickly and jumped to his feet to morph.

"It's morphin' time," Tommy yelled, as they each pulled out their morpher.

"Pink," Kim yelled.

"Red," Jason bellowed.

"White," Tommy yelled, finishing out the group.

"Power blaster," Kim yelled summoning the weapon as a group of amephors started charging towards them, without a second thought she fired the weapon. "Fire!"

"That thing has some kick, doesn't it?" Tommy asked, as Kim stumbled back a few steps, but continued to fire the weapon. They didn't seem to have any choice about using their weapons now, they would die if they didn't and that would not do the other rangers any good.

"Keep on firing and we'll do the hand to hand combat for the moment," Jason said, as Tommy and he made a few of the amephors disappear into nothingness, rather easily.

"Can do," Kim said smiling under her helmet as she continued to fire the rounds. This trend continued, until they came to the last group of amephors, which seemed to be immune to this type of ammunition. "One of you better think of something soon or we will be the ones that disappear."

"Trying to do that, but it is a little bit difficult at the moment," Tommy said, while in battle with one of the twenty amephors left.

"Tommy, call out the power sabers, Kim your power bow, and I'll get my sword. Let's see if they can take the combination of those three, together," Jason said as each one of them did just that.

"You want to do the honors?" Tommy asked, knowing that Jason had always been the one to bring the weapons together. He had Saba, and Saba didn't go into this configuration all too well.

"Yeah, let's bring them together," Jason said, as Kim went to throw her bow into the air.

"Power bow," Kim yelled, throwing the newly activated weapon into the air.

"Power sabers," Tommy yelled, throwing the sabers, which attached themselves on the ends of the bow.

"Power sword," Jason yelled, and retrieved to weapon as his took its place. "Ready, aim, fire!"

The amephors, although immune to the power blasters, were not immune to this weapon of choice. They went flying in all directions; many of them being killed by the blast and the others were injured to the point that it was safe to continue along their journey towards Nicarni-Aso's lair, without the worry of them catching up and attacking again.

"Power down," Tommy said, thoroughly exhausted, this was the worst battle he could remember in a very long time. He also knew that they needed all the rest they could get before they met the asoriods, but they needed to hurry, in order to protect the other rangers intended path. "We better hurry before she sends anything else after us."

"Where can we go?" Kim asked, and she saw Tommy looking at her with a worried expression on his face. She then looked down to see she had some bruises appearing and a few small cuts, but they all seemed to have that problem. "She obviously knows that we are here and we can't retreat into any of the oasis's, because they all have powerful evils inside of them. Let's just stay on the path that Billy has marked for us for the time being. Billy, were are you?"

"We passed your battle a few hours ago," Billy said, speaking into his communicator. They had kept themselves out of the aisle of deception and most of the other challenges Nicarni-Aso had implanted on the island. He, as well as the others, were hoping that they would be able to reach Nicarni-Aso's lair before sunset. "Are all of you alright?"

"We're fine, Billy," Kim said, looking at Tommy and Jason, who both had multiple cuts and bruises, but they were tending to it well. "You'll probably run into the asoriods before we can get there, but we'll try and hurry."

"That's fine," Billy said, having expected this situation to arise. Zack and Rocky could stay back and fight if they had to, but Billy hoped that it would not come to that. They would need as many people as possible at Nicarni-Aso's lair. "See you soon."

"Are they all right?" Aisha asked, having sensed there was more to this than what Kim had told them.

"It seems that they are," Billy said, but he knew that you couldn't trust any of their definitions of 'alright'. Tommy and Jason could both have broken bones and still be 'alright' by their definitions of the word. "Kim didn't sound like she was at her best, though."

"They've been through hell today. What did you expect out of them? They are only human," Rocky said, as they continued to trudge on towards their goal. They had been walking for the past few hours and it was beginning to get boring, but they would rather it be boring than be going through all of the fighting.

"This, but we'll really see if they are 'alright' when they catch up to us," Billy said, with a smile, which caught many of them off guard. He had been all business until the latest transmission from the fighting force, as they had been nicknamed by Zack. Billy must have thought that things were going well for him to be smiling at them.

"There's no way they can teleport to where we are?" Adam asked, having thought about it for a long time. This would surely save them some energy and having all of them together would make it easier on the fighters. They could hitch a ride for a couple of miles and conserve the energy that they were going to need later on.

"They could, but we risk being discovered if they do. Tommy and Jason know that and I know that it doesn't make sense, but it is best for them to have to catch up with us," Billy said.

"We understand, I don't want to have to deal with those things unless we have to," Zack said, remembering the small bit of the battle they had seen, the amephors and the 'fighting force' were having to be ruthless in an attempt to destroy the other.

"Jason, how long have you known that you felt like that?" Kim asked, as they walked on through a seemingly endless forest of dead trees.

"A long time," Jason said, staring at the ground, "I just never had the guts to tell her, now I wish I would have. Hell, I even told Zordon about it and he told me that my fears might become reality if I didn't act on my feelings. I'm such a dumb ass."

"I wouldn't go that far, but this certainly wasn't your brightest moment," Kim said, with a smile.

"And this comes from the girl that threw her relationship away," Tommy said and laughed as he received a punch to the stomach. "So you know that you must believe what she says."

"I did get it back, didn't I?" Kim asked looking at Tommy with a sly grin.

"I guess you did, let's face it. It's boring when you're around," Tommy said as they approached another oasis.

"This isn't on Billy's map," Jason said, unfolding the map he had been carrying in his survival kit and then looking at the oasis, it did seem harmless, but so had the aisle of deception, at first sight. He was not sure if they should chance it, but it would be a lot faster on them. "It could take hours to go around and we don't have that much time to spare."

"Kim, are you up for whatever is in there?" Tommy asked, knowing that this was best for the team, no delays could be afforded at the moment.

"Yeah, let's go," Kim said, taking a hold of Tommy's hand.

"This is wonderful," Nicarni-Aso said, as she had continued to monitor their progress, having not detected the other five rangers that were nearing her home at that very moment.

"Your majesty, they are about to enter the desert of agony. After what the aisle of deception did, they shouldn't be able to take much more," Zefoid said, in the most encouraging tone he could muster, "even though they did defeat all of the amephors."

"None were left?" Nicarni-Aso asked and for the first time found herself a little worried, these three meant business and looked to be readying themselves for a battle with her, if that became necessary. That was not something that she could believe would happen, but these were not the same rangers that she usually dealt with. "They will, however be in my control after this, though."

"You know, you are a moron," Trini said, having watched the whole battle and seen the rangers win decisively in the battle.

She also knew that their energy had been depleted, but with those three, nothing seemed to be impossible. Plus she had the sinking feeling that the other five were out there somewhere, as she had seen Kim more than once go to reach for her communicator, as if she needed to talk to someone about this.

"What?" Nicarni-Aso asked, turning around very slowly, to look at the ranger, who had dared to state her opinion of the battle, even if she did have a valid point. "How dare you, what makes you think I do not have the power to control them."

"It's not what I think, it's what I know. You captured me, instead of one of them in the first place. That would have been the smart thing to do," Trini said, laughing even harder. She was going to have so much fun playing into Nicarni-Aso's insecurities, although she knew this was not like her. "They already destroyed all of the amephors, what do you expect them to do to you?"

"No mere human has ever made it through the desert of agony," Nicarni-Aso said, spitting in Trini's face. Trini calmly wiped the spit away before glaring at Nicarni-Aso.

"Don't say I didn't warn you," Trini said and went back to silently watching the bubbles. _'And the others are out there somewhere. Ha!"_

"Tommy, are you alright?" Kim asked, noticing he had gone deathly pale. She wasn't feeling so great herself, but Tommy looked to have as much color as a sheet of printer paper.

"Yeah," Tommy said, shaking his head. "We better hurry, I don't like the feeling this place gives off."

"I'm with him," Jason said, as they picked their pace up to a jog.

"This woman has to have something wrong with her," Kim said, wiping the sweat from her forehead.

"Maybe," Tommy said looking down at Kim and seeing her collapse in pain. "Jason, hold up."

"We don't have time for a joke like this, Kim," Jason said walking back to where Tommy was standing.

"Who said it was a joke?" Kim asked, as Tommy picked her up. She suddenly did not have enough energy to do anything and her stomach was cramping, but it didn't make sense. She had been fine only seconds before.

"Billy, we need to know how to teleport out of were we are," Tommy said, as Kim held her communicator up to Tommy's mouth.

"Okay, where do you want to teleport to?" Billy asked, looking at the others with a bit of apprehension, this couldn't be good.

"We don't care, just get us the hell out of here," Jason said, starting to find it harder to stand, whatever was happening to them came on suddenly and they would be dead if Billy could not teleport them out of there.

"Alright, I'm teleporting you to the asoriods coordinates," Billy said, as he pulled out a laptop and started typing into the network.

"Something's wrong, isn't it?" Aisha asked walking over to where Billy was sitting. She had heard the anxiousness in Tommy's voice and could only pray that they were not in deep trouble.

"Yeah, Tommy wouldn't do this, unless…oh no," Billy said, having the reality hit him like a ton of bricks. "Something must have happened to the others."

"Any day now, would be great," Tommy said, trying to hold Kim and he upright, which was not an easy task anymore.

"Okay," Billy said, teleporting them to the asoriods location.

"Here we go again," Tommy said, letting Kim stand up. They were now faced with the asoriods who, unlike the amephors, did not seem ready to give up anything. Jason, Kim, and Tommy were now faced with the realization that the battle with the amephors was just the first of many they would have to deal with on this planet, if they were going to survive to see Trini and the other rangers ever again.

AN: That's all for this one. I know that it is long, but I have the feeling that the next few chapters will be like this. I know that they didn't save Trini like I thought they would, but it will happen in one of the next few chapters, I can promise that much. Thank you for reading and I hope that you will review!


	12. Saving Trini

Disclaimer: I do not own the Power Rangers. I do own the characters Nicarni-Aso, Zefoid, the asoriods, the amephors, and the planets Asoriotan and Nonatasion. I also own the armor flexor, invisashield, and any other weapons that you have never heard used on the Power Ranger series.

**Ghostwriter:** Thank you for reviewing this story again.

**jedi4jesus19:** Thank you for the review!

**Daisyz:** Thank you reviewing and here's the new chapter!

"Billy, have you already passed the asoriods?" Kim asked, after getting a connection with Billy's communicator. She was feeling better, but she was still not too steady on her own two feet. She, however, was feeling much better than either Tommy or Jason at the moment.

"Yeah, we have," Billy said, looking back over his shoulder. He did not hear the noises from a battle, but he was sure that it was forthcoming, as Kim was hurrying out her words. "I gotta go, we're getting close to Nicarni-Aso's lair. Be careful, Kim, we're not on Earth anymore and they may be stronger than you remember and you are tired."

"We'll try to, Billy," Kim said, and then turned to look at the exhausted Tommy and Jason. "How about we divide and conquer?"

"Hell no," Tommy said, rather forcefully. He had the rather disturbing feeling that if they did that, they would all wind up unconscious, or worse, dead. "We have to have each others back, they won't be able to teleport back to help us if we get into trouble while they are dealing with Nicarni-Aso."

"They're going on to save Trini, we can't hold them back from doing that by getting ourselves hurt," Jason said, with a sigh. Why, he wondered, did he have to be one of the better fighters?

It took him a little while but, he came to one conclusion why he was one of the three standing there, alone. Zordon was no fool and he must have told Billy what to do in a situation such as this one. Jason soon found his mind drifting back in time to a conversation he had with Zordon.

_Flashback to the Command Center _

" Zordon, I do not understand why this would happen again. We have not done anything to aggravate anyone," Jason said, as he paced around the command center. It had only been a few hours since Zordon had told them of their destiny to kill off this evil and there were still too many unanswered questions in Jason's mind.

"It is not meant for you to understand, Jason," Zordon said, simply. Jason always wanted to know why, while many of them simply wanted to know how they would get through it. "It is meant for you to complete, whether you like it or not."

"But, why the nine of us and not the current rangers?" Jason asked, staring up at Zordon.

"Because, no other rangers have ever been as close as the nine of you, Jason. I know that may not seem like it is the truth right now, but you are the closest group of young people that I have ever mentored. I thought about this long and hard before I dispensed the information upon you, it is not an easy task to take on, but things will happen that you would not have been prepared for if I had not told you before I was gone," Zordon said.

"Zordon, we are not as close as we used to be, look at Kim and Tommy. What's going to happen to them?" Jason asked, voicing the worry that many of the rangers had.

"That is a tough thing to say, Jason. Tommy has had his heart broken, by two different women, for different reasons. Katherine broke up with Tommy because she knew she was never going to replace the hole that had developed in Tommy's heart. Kimberly, well I have no clue what was going through her mind, but something will have to be done if they are ever going to be able to work together again," Zordon said.

"Tommy still loves her Zordon, he may not admit to many people, but he still does," Jason said, very confidently.

"Yes, he does, Jason, but now their pride has stepped in the way and it is not as easy to forgive and forget once that happens," Zordon said, then sighed. "It will be rough on all of you the longer they go without correcting this horrible wrong, but you have to let them do it on their own. If they don't seem ready to, you may have to push them, should the time arise for that."

"Alright, but what can you tell me about this evil?" Jason asked, letting his curiosity take over him.

"Not much, only that it will take all of you and no one will be unimportant to the task," Zordon said.

"Jason, Jason," Kim said, waving a hand in front of his eyes in order to gain his undivided attention. "You gotta stop daydreaming, we have to go to work on destroying the Asoriods."

"Alright," Jason said, reluctantly bringing himself out of this bittersweet memory.

The asoriods seemed to have been waiting for them to attack first, so they took the initiative and did just that. It had been much easier on Earth to attack them from behind and they didn't know if it was from their mounting exhaustion or that this fight was on the Asoriods home turf.

"Jason! Are you alright?" Kim yelled, running over to check on him. Jason had been thrown anywhere between twenty and thirty feet and seemed to be close to going into unconsciousness. "You have to morph, Jase. It's the only way that you will survive."

"You and Tommy are still fine," Jason said, as Kim helped him to stand up.

"Lose the damn pride and morph Jason!" Tommy yelled, as he continued to fight with the asoriods. "We need to get you back to Trini in one piece and you know that."

"It's morphin time," Jason said, "red. This is supposed to help?"

"Just fight, Jason. That is all we can do now," Kim said and kicked a few asoriods away from the two of them. "We have to have you, you are important."

Those few words of encouragement made something snap inside of Jason. He knew that he had been so close to giving up on all of this and he could not believe it. He had been chosen as one of 'the fighters' and he had to finish his job. He took a few seconds to look at the fighting Kim and Tommy and realized that this had been hell for them too. It may have been even worse on them, for all he knew. Right before pulling himself out of this revelry, he thought of the last words the ghostly Trini had said and then threw himself back into the battle.

"Keep…your…hands…off me!" Kim yelled, struggling to keep on fighting without morphing.

"We better morph too," Tommy said, as he found himself struggling as well. The asoriods definitely had a lot more intensity to their fighting here and he knew that it was becoming very dangerous to not have the powers protecting them. "It's morphin time! White!"

"Pink!" Kim yelled, summoning her powers and as she did this, she managed to throw several asoriods a fair distance away from herself, although that had not been what she had planned to do. "I thought these were the easy ones!"

"On Earth they may have been, but they have the advantage here," Tommy said, reaching for his communicator. "Billy, come in."

"What do you need, Tommy?" Billy asked, stopping their progress towards Nicarni-Aso's lair.

"A weapon or something that will help us get rid of these things faster," Tommy said as Jason and Kim managed to keep the asoriods from getting to him.

"Use the armor flexor, Tommy," Billy said. "It will increase the protection your suit gives you and will make it easier to inflict deadly blows to the asoriods."

"Thanks, Billy," Tommy said. "Armor flexor, power up!"

"That was easy enough," Kim said, as her suit changed into a much deeper shade of pink, which was the protection of the armor flexor coming into view. The other two now wore shields over the upper part of their bodies, which was their version of the armor flexor.

"Kim, watch out!" Tommy said, as he saw an asoriod heading towards her with a sword in hand. Tommy, did not know that Billy had saw it appropriate to bring Saba back into power, but when the sword appeared it headed straight towards the asoriod and began to duel. Thank goodness it could think on its own.

"Thank you!" Kim yelled in Tommy's general direction and continued to fight with the asoriod closest to her.

"You are more than welcome," Saba said, as the sword continued to duel with the pesky asoriod.

_Nicarni-Aso's Lair _

"Your friends are not having as easy a time with the Asoriods," Nicarni-Aso said and smiles toward Trini, "but I expected that."

"They will win, even if it does take them a little longer this time," Trini said, but couldn't help finding herself becoming concerned. She could tell that the three of them were becoming more fatigued as the battle went on, but she could also tell that Jason was doing the worst, which surprised her. He had never been one to give up and it looked as if he was coming extremely close to doing just that. "Come on, Jason."

"I've never had a Power Ranger die at my hands before," Nicarni-Aso said and then cackled. "Won't that just be delightful for you to see?"

"Your majesty," Zefoid said, not taking his eyes off the bubbles.

"Yes, Zefoid," Nicarni-Aso, rather annoyed at this interruption from Zefoid.

"They cannot be killed by the Asoriods or it will bring no honor to you and your evilness," Zefoid said. "You vowed that you would be the one to kill them and it is now time for you to do so."

"You fool!" Nicarni-Aso yelled. "We have to stay and guard her, that is what they came here for and that is what we will protect. I do not care about honor, there is no honor when you are as evil as I am, Zefoid."

"Yes, your majesty," Zefoid said with a slight bow and then quickly backed away from her.

"Lucky for you, their worst fighter has been captured," Trini said, downplaying her combative skills

"Shut up!" Nicarni-Aso yelled, getting tired of this ranger bringing out the flaws in her plan. "You will never understand how a mind as great as mine works."

"If you have a great mind, then Zefoid must be a genius," Trini said and then smiled. She found herself able to ignore Nicarni-Aso's ranting. She knew that if she was able to distract her for a few seconds, that it would help the others when they finally arrived.

_Outside Nicarni-Aso's Lair _

"This is the place," Billy announced. It had taken them ten hours, but they had finally reached Nicarni-Aso's lair and by the sounds from the battlefield, it was not a moment too soon. They knew that the Asoriods were occupied, many miles away, fighting the ones that their fearless leader had told them to destroy. "Some of us should remain out here to watch out for any asoriods that may sense that Nicarni-Aso is in trouble."

"I'll stay," Rocky said.

"So will I," Aisha said, looking around at the others.

"Fine with me," Billy said, happy to not have had to volunteer himself. "We all have to morph and call on the invisashield. The asoriods will be unable to see any of us and that will give us an advantage."

"It's morphin' time!" Zack yelled. "Black!

"Blue!" Billy yelled.

"Yellow!" Aisha yelled.

"Green!" Rocky yelled.

"Grey!" Adam yelled. "Invisashield up."

"We'll see you later," Billy said as Adam, Zack, and he entered Nicarni-Aso's lair.

"Okay," Aisha said, as she saw the door close. "What do we do now?"

"Wait and hope the asoriods don't sense this," Rocky said, as he sat down.

"What was that?" Nicarni-Aso asked as she jerked her head towards Zefoid. She had been attacked by the Power Rangers before and had just seen their signature flash show up, right outside of her residence.

"What was what, your majesty?" Zefoid asked, utterly confused.

"The bright flashes of light," Nicarni-Aso said.

"That was my friends," Trini said with a smile.

"But, they are still battling the Asoriods. How can they be here as well?" Nicarni-Aso asked, looking at the bubbles that still displayed a raging battle.

"Who said those were my only friends?" Trini asked, as she watched a club fall upon Zefoid's head and rendering him unconscious. "You know that you're next, Ms. Aso. I'm so sorry there was no warning, but it has to happen sometime."

"You and all of your trickery. I am going to join my Asoriods, they will protect me," Nicarni-Aso said and then disappeared.

"Trini, are you alright?" Billy asked, powering down the invisashield and then opening the cell door so he could give her a hug.

"Here you go," Zack said, having retrieved the morpher from Zefoid pocket before knocking him out.

"I'm fine Billy, but Jason, Kim and Tommy are not. We must go and help them, Nicarni-Aso has no problem with killing them in order to keep herself alive," Trini said and then let go of Billy so she could reach for her communicator. "Rocky, Aisha, come in."

"Yes, Trini?" Aisha said, happily.

"Teleport to the Asoriods coordinates and we'll meet you there soon," Trini said, looking warily at the bubbles.

"Can do and its good to have you back, Trini," Aisha said, then Rocky and she teleported into battle.

"Why are we staying behind?" Adam asked, as the other three began scavenging around the place for anything that might be important.

"We have to destroy this place," Billy said, pulling out a bomb and seeing that Zack and Trini had finished their investigation of the place. "How long do we need to set it for?"

"Two minutes," Zack said. "We will be far away from here when it goes off and the Asoriods probably won't be able to detect it in such a short time period."

"Billy, we don't have much time, set it and let's get out of this place," Trini said, as she saw Jason get thrown, for what seemed like the hundredth time. She then grasped her communicator and readied herself to teleport.

"It's set, ready to fight?" Billy asked and then the remaining rangers teleported to the Asoriods battle.

AN: That's it for this chapter and as of tomorrow my spring break is officially over, so I will probably only get out one chapter a week. Please be patient with me, for the next few weeks and once school is over, I will be able to write at a nice rate again. Thanks for reading and please review!


	13. Is She Really Gone?

Disclaimer: I do not own the Power Rangers. I do own the characters Nicarni-Aso, Zefoid, the asoriods, the amephors, and the planets Asoriotan and Nonatasion. I also own the armor flexor, invisashield, and any other weapons that you have never heard used on the Power Ranger series.

**jedi4jesus19:** Thank you so much for your review.

**Daisyz:** Sorry about the cliffhanger, but I hope that this chapter justifies leaving the last one a little bit open ended. I also seem to have a tendency to end chapter with cliffhangers, so I will go ahead and apologize for any other chapters that might be left in the same fashion.

**Ghostwriter:** Thanks for the correction and I'll make sure to change it soon.

**Rhony Lynn:** Thank you so much for the review and I'll fix the name, I promise!

**sarasidle3:** Thank for the review and for correcting me.

**Kimberly:** Thanks so much for the review and for the correction on the name of Tommy's sword.

Now, on with the story!

When Aisha and Rocky first teleported into the battle, they were quite surprised at the scene playing out in front of them. The three rangers, who looked very battle worn, had somehow managed to get the asoriods down to about fifty, but these last fifty asoriods seemed to have dug in even harder to the rangers attack. This very fact made it even more obvious that they had not arrived a moment too soon, as they could tell that their friends were very close to giving in and giving up.

"I have never been so glad to see you," Kim said running to give the green ranger a hug, before trying to pull him towards the battle, which was taking much more effort than normal. They would usually just come along, but for some reason today, they were not moving that fast and she needed for them to do that. "Tommy and Jason are in trouble, come on."

"Coming," Rocky said, as Aisha and he sprinted after the little pink ranger. They were surprised that she had that much energy left, but as soon as she was with the others, they could tell how much of a show she had been putting up in front of them.

"I've brought help!" Kim yelled, to Tommy and Jason, who were still fighting, but just barely at this point. Aisha found herself becoming apprehensive; their protective suits seemed to do nothing to shield the blows that the asoriods were dealing out to them and from the looks of things they still had a long fight left to get all of them to leave.

"Thank God," Tommy said, rolling over and slowly standing up. His protective suit, which was once white, was now covered with multiple rips and soot marks from the asoriods' fire attacks, which was something that they had not been expecting. They had never used fire on Earth and they had had no clue that weapon was in their arsenol.

"Look out!" Aisha yelled and ran to fend off an asoriod from attacking Kim and Tommy, which was not something they needed to happen right now. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, we're fine, but we have to keep on fighting. It's the only way we will accomplish what we came here to do," Kim said and then kicked an asoriod in the back and watched it disintegrate. "Tommy!"

"Kim don't!" Jason yelled, as Kim threw Tommy out of the way and took the full force of the blow by herself.

"Now they have really pissed me off," Tommy said, standing up and thinking for a few seconds about which weapon he was going to call to help protect them. "Power blaster!"

"Tommy, our powers," Jason said, as he continued to fight with an asoriod. Jason could see out of the corner of his eye that Aisha was making her way over to check on Kim and he knew that Tommy's reserves had to getting as close to empty as his own. They needed to last as long as they could, that way the others would only have to come in and finish a few off.

"Screw the damn powers," Tommy said, as he fired at an asoriod. They had now hurt Kim and he didn't particularly care what it took to destroy them now. "We have the power boosters and I am going to use mine to the fullest of its capabilities."

"Okay," Rocky said, and shook his head in amusement, as he went into fighting the asoriods along side Jason and Tommy. He knew better than to argue with Tommy and he trusted that the rest of them would be able to take care of all of this, otherwise Zordon would have sent more of them.

"Kim, are you okay?" Aisha asked, as she saw the other rangers teleport in from Nicarni-Aso's lair, but they were still a good ways off. Kim had not moved much since this last blow had thrown her into the sand, but she did respond when Aisha said her name.

"Yeah," Kim said, standing up very slowly and knowing that she had to go back to fighting. "Power bow! Aisha, you have to continue fighting. Tommy, Jason, and I will be fine, we've already been through the worst that could happen to us."

"Jason! No!" Trini yelled, as she saw the red ranger fall to the ground with a single harsh blow from an asoriod.

She had been watching from Nicarni-Aso's lair and had seen them go through most of this already. This time it seemed that the asoriod had managed to knock Jason out, which scared her. The other rangers had somehow managed to get it down to ten asoriods, but these were now fighting with much more ferocity than before. Kim, Tommy, Rocky, and Aisha did not know that Nicarni-Aso had appeared on the scene mere minutes before and was hiding herself within the cluster of asoriods.

"My God," Billy whispered, as he took in the battle that was raging right in front of him. Billy quickly followed Trini to where Jason was lying and could tell that he would be all right, but this day had obviously been much worse than they had thought it would be on 'the fightering force'.

"Billy, we need your help!" Rocky yelled, Adam and Zack had already joined the battle, much to Kim and Tommy's relief, who found themselves becoming increasingly exhausted. They also were now wondering how much longer it would be before they joined Jason, knowing that they were pushing themselves well over the normal limits of their powers.

"You gonna be alright?" Billy asked, looking down at the purple ranger, who had already started tending to Jason.

"Yes, I can still fight for myself Billy, now go and help the others. I'll watch after him ," Trini said, standing up to look Billy in the eyes.

"Okay," Billy said and ran off to help the others with the remaining asoriods. For the next thirty minutes or so, the battle was in a dangerous limbo between going to their advantage or the asoriods taking control of the battle.

"Tommy, watch out!" Kim yelled, too late, as Tommy was dealt a blow that threw him a good fifteen feet. When he didn't get up, there was a reason to worry and Kim knew without going to check that he had been knocked out, as well. "Trini keep them safe, please!"

"I can do that!" Trini said, dragging Tommy over to be a little bit closer to where Jason was lying. Jason had not moved a bit over all of that time and Trini found herself on the verge of tears, knowing that this was not a good sign.

"They're mine," Kim said, as she dug in to fight the last asoriods with all of the might she could muster, as she couldn't help but feel fury running through her veins as Tommy was now lying on the ground next to Jason.

The other rangers stood there for a few seconds as the shock sunk in. Kim had never made a threat such as this before, and knowing her, she was going to take care of every asoriod left in front of her. Nicarni-Aso, who now sat in the middle of the cluster of asoriods, was preparing herself for this final battle, which she had the sinking feeling would be to the death. It had obviously come to the point in her mind that it was either kill or be killed; she would never go back into a tiny box again if she could help it.

"Rocky," Zack said, as he watched Kim destroy two asoriods. "She has lost it, hasn't she?"

"No, she hasn't. She's just ready to kick ass," Rocky said, destroying an asoriod for himself and seeing that there were only five left to defend their leader. In the distance, they heard the bomb detonate, which unbeknownst to them, made many of Nicarni-Aso's powers disappear immediately. The five asoriods that were left managed to hold on for another hour, before they joined all of the ones that had gone before them.

"Little rangers, who wants to try and destroy me first?" Nicarni-Aso asked with an evil grin upon her face, as she stood to face them. "Your best fighters are unconscious, who dares to try and attack me now?"

"I do," Kim said, stepping forward, despite the obvious disapproval coming from the remaining rangers. Nicarni-Aso could tell from looking at her suit that she had been the most battle tested that day and suddenly had the gut sinking feeling that she might be about to meet her match. "You forgot to knock me out with the two of them and I will gladly destroy. They did not deserve what you did to them and now it is your turn to pay."

"You will be nothing for me to destroy, but as you wish. How would you like for this to go?" Nicarni-Aso asked, confidently although she was silently cursing herself. How could she have been so dumb as to leave the only remaining fighter conscious? Kim had been the one that she had thought would be easy to destroy; of course, this had been before she had managed to piss Kim off.

"Kim, this isn't wise," Zack said, stepping in front of her. He knew if Tommy had been conscious he would have been trying to stop Kim and since he wasn't he thought that he might as well try to keep her from fighting Nicarni-Aso, alone.

"If something happens to me, tell Tommy that I love him and I'll always watch over him. I have to do this ," Kim said, trying to walk past Zack.

"I won't let you go alone," Zack said, and stopped her from progressing any closer to Nicarni-Aso. She caught how he felt about all of this, but she still knew that there might be the chance that they would have to let her fight alone.

"So, you don't want this to be a fair fight, do you pink ranger?" Nicarni-Aso asked, knowing that this would make the battle one on one, no matter what anyone else said. "You should be fair, since that is what you stand for."

"Let me do this, Zack. I know that I can," Kim said, and Zack slowly let her go and returned to the other rangers, knowing he really had no choice.

"She's going to fight alone, isn't she?" Adam asked, awed at what was possibly going to happen. They had seen Tommy do this in times past, but seeing Kim do it would be a completely different experience.

"Yeah, but Nicarni-Aso is making her play by our rules. We have to let her, even though I don't want to," Zack said, watching as Kim squared up to Nicarni-Aso, who was at least four inches taller than her.

"Fire bulb," Kim mutter, as a glassy sphere appeared in her hand and it was Billy's turn to be stunned. He had never told Kim about this weapon and it didn't belong to her anyway, it belonged to Tommy, who was currently lying on the ground some twenty feet away. That mere fact did not seem to translate to her not knowing how to use it, quite the contrary actually, she seemed to know exactly its use.

"Holy shit," Zack said, as he looked at the weapon Kim had called to use in her defense and then turned his gaze towards Billy, knowing that they were thinking that same thing.

"Yeah, I know, don't ask me how she did that," Billy said, continuing to watch as Kim and Nicarni-Aso stood readying themselves for the others attack. "Don't tell Tommy, he'll freak if he knows that she can use his powers, too."

"Now, what were you going to say?" Kim asked, finding herself becoming more furious with Nicarni-Aso as the minutes slowly ticked by.

"That you are going to die," Nicarni-Aso said and then tried to send a fire blow at the pink ranger. She then discovered that all of her powers had seemed to be wiped out and she was now defenseless against the pink ranger's first attack, which happened to be heading in her direction quite rapidly. "Oh!

"Score: Us 1, Nicarni-Aso 0. Shall we continue?" Kim asked and laughed as Nicarni-Aso landed after her short flight. "Billy, prepare the holding chamber."

"I will not go back to being held in some small box," Nicarni-Aso said with all of the fierceness she could muster and stood up quite shakily. The girl did know what she was doing, although she was taking her time in executing everything. "I would rather die than have to face a life in a box like that one."

"I can easily accommodate that," Kim said, daring to steal a glance at Tommy and Jason. They both remained unconscious and this made the need to let Nicarni-Aso feel the pain they were feeling much more evident in Kim's mind.

"You shouldn't do this, Kim," Aisha said, trying to talk some sense back into Kim, who looked as if she was poising herself to kill.

"Let her," Rocky said, knowing that if they allowed Nicarni-Aso to build her powers back up, they may not be able to take care of her in the future. This was therechance and they had to take it. "We have no choice, it's not just us in danger anymore. It's all of the people we love on Earth as well."

"Alright," Aisha said, and they all went back into complete silence as Kim tried to think of what to use next.

"Power sword," Kim said, as Jason sword appeared in her hands and she began steadily walking towards Nicarni-Aso. "Thanks for the advice, Zordon."

"How did she do that?" Adam asked, looking around at the others. The fire bulb was one thing, they all knew that Kim and Tommy had a special connection, but Jason's sword was a completely different matter.

"I have no clue," Billy said, as he watched Kim strike Nicarni-Aso with the sword and then send it back into Jason's possession.

"Now, it is time for you to suffer the way you have made so many suffer before," Kim said and called one final fire bulb into her grasp and launched it towards Nicarni-Aso. The explosion that followed was much more powerful than any that they had seen before and they got the chance to watch this evil disintegrate, like all of her weapons had over the last few hours.

"Thank God she has been destroyed," Trini said, as she watched the explosion, while tending to the unconscious Tommy and Jason. Tommy seemed to be coming around some, but Jason had not done anything yet.

"Pink ranger, power down," Kim said, before falling to her knees. Kim, looked much worse than they had imagined, her arms and legs were covered with multiple bruises and cuts. During the battles that she had been through today, her clothes had been torn to shreds, this made Billy thankful for the extra clothing he had made them pack, although she seemed to be in no condition to change her clothing.

"Kim," Zack said, rushing over to try to keep her from joining Tommy and Jason, while he managed to power down.

"I'll be fine," Kim said, looking over his shoulder to see Tommy and Jason remained unconscious. "I need to check on them."

"No," Billy said, firmly as he walked over to where she was kneeling, but just because Zack was holding her up. "I am going to tend to you first, the two of them should wake up at any time now."

"Alright," Kim said, as Billy started to apply Neosporin and Band-Aids to her cuts.

"How did you do that?" Adam asked, as Aisha, Rocky, and he joined Zack, Kim, and Billy.

"I did it because they deserved some credit in destroying her, just like all of us have credit for destroying her," Kim said, looking around at them.

"But you did this," Rocky said, still amazed at what he had seen happen.

"No, we did this, not me. It doesn't mean anything to me that I got the last blows, we are all important. We all did something today that helped bring her down and everyone should take credit for it, not just me," Kim said as Billy finished bandaging her cuts. "She is gone and we should be thankful for that, it doesn't matter how it happened, now I want to go check on Tommy and Jason."

"Okay, but we all need an explanation about all of this later," Billy said and he wondered what had possessed Kim at the moment she destroyed Nicarni-Aso, but soon decided it best to let that thought drift away and join the others.

"Hey handsome," Kim said, kneeling next to the unmasked white ranger. "The two of you sure got the worst end of this, come on and wake up."

"Oh," Tommy groaned, slowly opening his eyes and looking up to see Kim was no longer morphed and heavily bruised. "What happened?"

"We can fill you in on everything that you missed on the way back to Earth," Kim said with a smile. "Right now we need to get you taken care of."

"White ranger, power down," Tommy said, very quietly.

"Tommy," Kim whispered, shocked at how bloody and bruised he was as well. She knew that she must look awful, but she had never seen Tommy look like this after any battle they had ever been in together.

"What exactly happened to you?" Adam asked, voicing the question that quite a few of them had wanted to know the answer to.

"I don't know, one second I was fighting an asoriod and the next thing I know I wake up to see that the battle is over. Nicarni-Aso, didn't escape, did she?" Tommy asked sitting up quite quickly, before Kim forced him to lay back down.

"No, she didn't," Zack said, smiling at Kim. He knew that he would have loved to get back at that woman, but Kim had done a sufficient job at that. It also seemed that Kim had made her suffer enough and had the right motivation lying only a few feet away, unconscious. He knew that if it had been Aisha over there with the two of them, he could only imagine what he would have done himself.

"How are the others?" Tommy asked, as Kim finished putting the Neosporin and Band-Aids on his cuts.

"Fine, except Jason, he hasn't woken up yet," Kim said, stealing a glance at Jason, who still had Trini tending to him.

"He has to tell her, Kim," Tommy said, while Zack and Adam looked at him as if he had grown another head.

"I know and it probably would be best that the two of you do not repeat that. Jason will probably kill us if you do," Kim said, standing up and then offering a hand to help Tommy up.

"We won't, but who are you talking about?" Adam asked, and got the very clear feeling that he was not going to get an answer. It seemed that Zack had some sort of clue by the way he started to say someone's name, but then stopped after receiving one harsh look from Kim. "Alright, I guess it's best that I don't know."

"Sorry, but I don't want him coming after me once he wakes up," Kim said, doing her best to smile, although it was extremely hard at the moment.

"Tommy, are you feeling alright?" Trini asked as Tommy sat down next to Jason. Kim and he looked banged up, but she had pictured it being even worse from what she had watched.

"I'll be fine," Tommy said, with very little conviction, "has he woken up yet?"

"No, I'm starting to worry. It's almost nightfall and we need to get out of here soon," Billy said, looking around at the others and then down at Jason.

"Why don't we just take a hold of him and teleport back to our ship?" Tommy asked, thinking of how good a bed would feel right about now and he knew that the sooner they got there the better it would be for him and Kim.

"Because, the three of you have been weakened, considerably, because of these attacks," Billy said, as he could guess what Tommy was thinking. "I don't think it is worth the risk."

"Alright," Tommy said, laying his head down in Kim's lap. He was not going to try to argue with Billy about this tonight. "Wake me up when Jason comes to."

"Okay," Kim said and started playing with Tommy's hair.

"When are you going to tell him?" Rocky asked, now that they had all settled themselves in a circle around Jason.

"When both of them are awake. I don't want to have to tell this tale twice," Kim said, not taking her eyes off Tommy's face. "Come on, Jason, we need you to wake up."

"He's going to be fine, Kim," Aisha said, but she knew that Kim wasn't the one that needed comforting, but it was useless to say anything to the person that did need some comfort at the moment.

"I know," Kim said with a sigh, "but he has a lot left to do."

"Like what?" Trini asked, looking up from Jason's face, and caught a glimpse of Billy which made her stomach flip. She knew that she was going to hurt him, but she had almost lost Jason once and didn't want to go on without him in her life.

"Things," Zack said, as Jason moved a little, but did not wake up, which he knew was tearing at Trini's heart.

"Come on Jason, we need you to wake up," Trini whispered and then stood up, knowing that she needed to clear her head. "Kim, can I talk to you for a second?"

"Sure," Kim said and gently picked Tommy's head up and settled it on the ground before she stood up. "What's going on?"

"What do you know?" Trini asked, as they walked away from the others.

"I promised I wouldn't tell, Trini. I'm sorry but, I can't break a promise to Jason, he has never broke a promise to me," Kim said and watched Trini start crying. "Trini, what's wrong? You know that he is going to be fine and you have Billy."

"Kim, I thought that I would get over Jason by dating Billy, but it hasn't worked. I'm going to break Billy's heart and I don't know if I will be able to stand myself after I do," Trini said, as she looked over at Billy and the other rangers. "He's been so good to me, and this is how I am going to repay him. This isn't fair to him, he deserves better than me."

"Trini, he'll understand all of this, eventually," Kim said, following Trini's gaze. "But there is no need to do what you have to now, Trini and don't be surprised if Billy has already figured it out."

"You're right, we better go back," Trini said and gave Kim a hug. "It's really good to have you back, you don't know how much I have missed all of this."

"I've missed this too," Kim said as they reached the others. "Jason, quit being so stubborn."

"Come on Jase, wake up," Trini said, returning to her place, which was sitting beside Jason. "Please wake up."

"Oh," Jason moaned and then willed himself to open his eyes. "What did I do to deserve this?"

"Jason," Trini whispered and then gave Jason a bone-crushing hug. Billy could tell how Trini felt and began preparing himself for the inevitable. He knew that it wasn't his fault; the feelings Trini felt had been hidden for far too long.

"Trini?" Jason asked, looking down at the girl who was hugging him. He couldn't remember her being at the battle before he passed out, but he sure was glad that she was here now. "You're alright."

"Yes, but you need to power down, Jason. I'm sure you're in just as bad shape as the two of them," Trini said and finally let go of Jason, which was something he did not want to happen.

"Ya'll look horrible," Jason said, casting a weak smile towards Kim and Tommy.

"You need to look at yourself," Tommy said, as Jason powered down. His clothes were shredded in the same manner as theirs and the bruises and cuts were just as multiple as their own.

"Here you go, Trini," Billy said and handed her the Neosporin and a box of Band-Aids to cover Jason's cuts with.

"Thank you," Trini said and began bandaging Jason's cuts.

"Trini, I need to talk to you about something," Jason said, as he watched her bandage his cuts. Jason didn't notice that the other rangers all stopped what they were doing to listen in to whatever he had to say.

"It can wait, Jason. You'll have plenty of time to tell me whatever you need to," Trini said with a smile and looked up to see Billy looking on with a smile on his face as well.

"What happened after I was knocked out?" Jason asked, looking around at the others who all had different degrees on injury.

"It's funny you should ask," Tommy said, as all of the rangers looked at Kim.

"I don't think that it is best to tell you here. Billy please let us teleport back. I accept responsibility if I don't wind up back at the ship," Kim said with a smile.

"Fine, let's go," Billy said, as they all stood up and teleported back to the ship, without any of them getting lost along the way.

AN: That's it for this chapter, but I'll try to have another chapter out within the next week or so. I have gone back and changed Sala to Saba in the previous chapter, so thank you for telling me about my obvious error! I hope that you enjoyed this chapter. I'll be happy to receive reviews from anyone. Thanks again for reading!


	14. The Long Trip Home

Disclaimer: I do not own the Power Rangers. I do own the characters Nicarni-Aso, Zefoid, the asoriods, the amephors, and the planets Asoriotan and Nonatasion. I also own the armor flexor, invisashield, and any other weapons that you have never heard used on the Power Ranger series.

**lil sis:** Sorry for the cliffhanger, but I've already told you that it is an annoying habit of mine. Thanks for the review and for letting me throw my ideas around with you.

**Blondi aka Lucius:** Thank you for the review and sorry for the wait on this chapter. 

**Daisyz:** Thank you so much for the review!

**Ghostwriter:** Thanks for reviewing this story again!

**jedi4jesus19:** Thank you so much for the review and I will try to keep up the good work, but I can't guarantee that.

**Kimberly:** Thanks so much for the review!

Now on with the story!

_Rocky's Thoughts _

Once we returned to the ship, it became more obvious that rest was the first item on Jason, Tommy, and Kim's agenda. I, myself, was hoping that Kim would tell us everything that happened because I know that I didn't understand half of it and I witnessed the battle between Nicarni-Aso and Kim. They, the fighters, went down to the sleeping quarters almost immediately upon boarding the ship, while the rest of us took our timewandering downstairs. I was the last one that remained out on the deck and I couldn't help but wonder what would have happened if we hadn't defeated Nicarni-Aso. She wasn't what I expected her to be, but under all of her stupidity, there must have been a bigger threat. Zordon would have never sent us on such a treacherous journey, for some small evil to be defeated.

_Kitchen _

"They all seem to be fine, exhausted, but fine none the less," Billy said, as he sat down on a stool, feeling completely worn out. He had just come from examining the three sleepy rangers more extensively and concluded that they would be fine if they could get some rest abroad the crowded vessel.

"That's good," Aisha said, as she fixed herself a cup of coffee. She was feeling tired, but was trying to stay awake long enough to get a good idea of what everyone was feeling and what was going to occur when they returned to Earth. "I was beginning to worry about them for awhile there."

"You weren't the only one," Adam said and then yawned. He had to admit that he was just exhausted right now. "I don't know what I'd do without all of you. We're like a family, if you think about it long enough."

"Yeah, we have our problems, but everything usually works itself out in the end," Trini said, staring through the doorway to look at the sleeping rangers. Tommy and Kim had fallen asleep in each other's arms, which only proved Trini's point about everything turning out the way that it needed to. Jason, however, was sleeping just as peacefully by himself. "Well, most of the time it works out."

"Do you know what Jason wanted to talk to you about earlier?" Aisha asked, as she watched Billy struggle to keep a mouthful of water down. Aisha had always thought there was something more than friendship between Trini and Jason, but because they never acted on it, nothing was ever said about it.

"No, I can't say that I do," Trini said and looked over at Billy, who had somehow managed to regain his composure. "I can say that whatever it is will probably change things for some of us."

"Okay," Aisha said, "is anyone hungry?"

"No, I think I just want to get some sleep," Rocky said, which was surprising considering his usual appetite, he had never been one to turn down a meal for any reason.

"Same here," the other rangers chorused, looking thoroughly exhausted.

"I'm with ya'll," Aisha said and they all went to turn in for the night.

The Power Rangers didn't know that an old friend had been watching them as they battled and was most pleased with the result of their combined efforts. Alpha 5, who had been told of this evil by Zordon, was most glad to see that it was gone forever this time. Zordon had not thought it wise to disclose one piece of information to the rangers, he knew that they were likely to not fight if they known. Nicarni-Aso had been the sole keeper of the Nonatorian curse.

This curse had been used on rangers in the past and it made them turn against their very livelihood, themselves. When she had been locked away, the ability to perform the curse had been taken away from her. Upon her escape, the use of this curse was the first thing she aimed to regain, but lucky for the rangers she had not gained enough strength to do that, yet. This was why the rangers had to fight her early on, but this was something they would never be told, unless Alpha 5 saw them again and he doubted that one.

_Tell the WHOLE Story, Kim _

"Oh," Kim moaned as she rolled closer to Tommy. Although she had slept soundly, she was not completely rested, as she had expected to be, but Billy would probably tell her that she was a fool to think she would be rested after only one night of sleep and the fight they had just been through. "I don't want to get up."

"Then don't," Tommy said, putting an arm around her in an attempt to get her to go back to sleep, he did not want her to move as he was very comfortable in that position and it felt very good to be propped up against her.

"We have to get some food sometime today and I don't like the idea of some of these people trying to cook an edible meal," Kim said, sitting up to find the Tommy and she were the only ones left in the sleeping quarters. "Come on, we better get up."

"Fine," Tommy said, wincing as he sat up on the edge of the mattress and wondered how only yesterday he had been waking up to complete some additional weapons and today he was so sore that he could barely move.

"Hey sleepyheads," Trini said with a bright smile, as most of the others seemed to have smirks on their faces, satisfied that neither had yelled at each other since they had woken up. "It's great that you finally got out of bed."

"What time is it?" Kim asked and then yawned. If it wasn't too late, Kim was seriously thinking about going back to sleep, as she did not feel as if she had slept any the night before.

"It's nearly noon," Billy said, trying to suppress a laugh. Tommy and Kim had never looked more horrible in their lives, but both of them seemed to be happier than they had been in years, which helped explain them sleeping so long. The fact that they had fought the previous day had absolutely nothing to do with how long they slept, if you asked any of the other rangers, except Jason who would say that was the only reason.

"But we don't blame you for sleeping late," Zack added, quite quickly, as several of the others nodded in agreement. They didn't really want either mad at them, but they knew it would be alright as they had smiled at them, some.

"I'd have done the same thing if I'd had someone to cuddle with," Jason said; glad that he still had the ability to make both of their faces turn deep shades of red, which was what they were doing right now.

"Can I just get some coffee?" Tommy asked, trying his best to ignore Jason's comment and make his blush disappear.

"Sure," Aisha said and got up from her seat to go fix Tommy a cup of fresh coffee.

"So Kim, how about you fill us in on what happened after we were knocked out?" Jason asked, as innocently as possible. He had become more curious than he though possible over the last few minutes, as they were being very stubborn. "They won't tell me anything, so I'm guessing you're the one that has been selected to fill us in about it all."

"Fine, Jason," Kim said with a sigh, as she looked between Jason and Tommy. Neither one was going to like this at all, "but we need to wait until Aisha gets back."

"Okay," Jason said with a satisfied grin.

"Here you go," Aisha said, handing Tommy his cup of coffee and taking a seat next to Zack.

"Are all of you comfortable?" Kim asked, knowing that there was a distinct possibility that this story could take several hours to complete.

"Yeah, we're good," Jason said, as all of them turned their attention to Kim, which was quite suspicious to Jason and Tommy, but they shrugged it off as their imaginations playing a trick on them, as they still were exhausted.

"Jason, after you got knocked out the rest of the rangers arrived to help us with the remaining asoriods. We fought with them for about an hour before Tommy was knocked out and during that period of time, none of the asoriods were destroyed. So we kept on fighting," Kim said, as plainly as possible.

"So, Nicarni-Aso didn't appear until you got rid of all of the asoriods?" Jason guessed, having overheard a little bit of the others conversation the earlier that morning.

"Yeah," Kim said, looking down to try to avoid the prying eyes.

"How did all of you defeat her?" Tommy asked, grabbing Kim's tiny hand with his much larger one and making small circles with his thumb against the back of her hand. She seemed more nervous than he had seen her in awhile, but there was no reason for her to be nervous, they just wanted her to tell the story.

"That is what Kim needs to explain to the two of you," Billy said, as Tommy dropped his, now empty, coffee cup at the realization of what Billy meant.

"Tell the whole story, Kim," Trini said, knowing that her friend was likely to leave out some important details on 'accident'.

"Fine," Kim said, not liking this idea at all. She would now have to reveal a lot more to them than she wanted to because Jason and Tommy could read her like a book. "When Nicarni-Aso appeared she asked which one of us would like to fight her and I said that I did."

"What made you want to do that?" Tommy asked, as Jason sat there in silent shock, which was something he rarely did. Jason knew that Kim had always had guts, but this was even extreme for her, especially considering the fact that she had just gotten on good terms with Tommy again.

"You being unconscious," Kim mumbled, as she wiped away the tears that had now formed at the corners of her eyes. This action made it obvious that a lot more emotional baggage had been attached than they thought would be to her decision to fight Nicarni-Aso.

"Not that we didn't try to stop her, Tommy," Zack said, coming to the defense of the rest of the rangers. Zack did not want to deal with an ill Tommy, any time of the day, especially knowing how little sleep he had gotten last night, "but she is a lot more stubborn than the rest of us."

"Yeah, she is," Jason said, finally regaining his voice, after a prolonged silence as his mind tried to work out some of the crazy details. "Tell us the rest."

"Well, Zack tried to stop me from fighting her alone, but she used the oldest trick in the book to get me to fight by myself. She reminded me of the duties that I had pledged to uphold when I first became a Power Ranger, so I felt as if I had to fight alone. She decided to strike first, but whatever she wanted to do didn't work, I guess the bomb destroyed her ability to harness powers from that generator that you said she had, Billy. I called on the fire bulb to attack her with and it did its job," Kim said, as Tommy cut into her story.

"How did you get that weapon?" Tommy asked, now understanding why the others were so eager to hear her side of the story. This weapon was supposed to belong to only him and no other weapons had ever been transferred between rangers before this battle.

"I remembered something Zordon had told me a long time ago," Kim said, knowing that she would have to fully explain herself later.

"Kim..." Tommy said and then found himself cut off by her hurried explanation of everything else.

"After she was thrown by the fire bulb, I asked Billy to bring out the container we were going to put her in and she said that she would rather die than have to go back in there, which I was more than happy to oblige. I called upon Jason's power sword next and then attacked her with it," Kim said, as Tommy and Jason could only stare at her with wide eyes, while the rest of the rangers saw their chance to ask a burning question.

"What were you thinking when you did that?" Billy asked, knowing that the others would probably be unwilling to voice this question, to the intimidating little ranger.

"That she was now paying for everything she had done to all of us and so many others. The only other thing that kept flashing through my mind was the site of the two of them unconscious and that they could possibly die because of her, so I wanted to insure that she suffered as much as they did," Kim said, in a voice raw with emotion. "Can I finish this? There's not much left to tell."

"Okay," Tommy said, in a voice barely above a whisper, as he fought the urge to wrap his arms around Kim in a tight hug. He was now more thankful than he had ever before that she was safe and it hadn't really dawned on him until now that he had almost let Kim down in the way he had always feared.

"After that, Nicarni-Aso didn't have much of a will to fight anymore, so I called another fire bulb and finished her off," Kim said, simply. While everything was sinking in, they sat in a very uncomfortable silence. There were so many questions that needed to be asked, but which ones would be deemed acceptable to be answered? After a few more minutes of debating, the first question leaked out, giving way to the onslaught of other questions soon to follow.

"What did Zordon tell you that he didn't tell the rest of us?" Jason asked, breaking the deafening silence. "It's pretty obvious that it affected you a great deal or you wouldn't have been able to do that yesterday."

"I went, one day, to talk to him about my breakup with Tommy and he started asking me weird questions," Kim said, glad that Jason had decided on a rather easy question to start with. "He asked if I had ever noticed how much stronger the connection between Tommy, you, and myself was when we were morphed. I had never noticed it, much less thought to ask about it until then. I asked him how that could be and he explained that sometimes friends could have a connection that goes farther than they know. When I asked how this would help me, he told me to think about it and that was what I came up with. Our powers are interchangeable. Why? I don't know, he never told me that. I never got the chance to ask, he died soon after I talked with him."

"Does it work both ways?" Zack asked, truly interested.

"I suppose it would, but we've never had a reason to try that," Kim said, knowing that this was only going to frustrate them more. She couldn't help that she didn't know any more, the only person who could have explained it to them, had died. "I had never had a reason until yesterday to even attempt it and I'm glad that it worked. I wouldn't have been able to defeat her alone."

"Why did you break up with Tommy in the first place?" Aisha asked, while several of the Power Rangers had looks of complete shock plastered on their faces. Tommy and Jason both knew that Kim would probably not tell everyone, but it was going to be interesting to see what she did say.

"I was an idiot when I did that," Kim said, looking over at Tommy, who smiled reassuringly at her, "I really don't know what was going through my mind, other than what we all went through after losing our powers."

"Excuses, excuses," Jason said with a smile, knowing that probably only Tommy and he knew the whole truth of the matter, which was fine with him.

"She doesn't have to tell everyone," Tommy said, squeezing Kim's hand. In all honesty, he didn't want to have to relive the truth when he hadn't gotten a good chance to talk to Kim about it, alone. "I've forgiven her and that is all that is important."

"Why did you put yourself is so much danger?" Trini asked, knowing that Tommy and Jason had left that particular question out because of a fear of being decked if they asked.

"I wasn't thinking rationally at the time. I was mad, upset, exhausted, and being worried about the two of you didn't help matters any. So I did the only thing that had been getting me by, I fought," Kim said, knowing that this wouldn't be a good enough answer, but hoped they would take it without too much opposition.

"Kim, is that really why you did that?" Tommy asked, hoping he would be able to get an honest answer out of her.

"No, but it's hard to explain. It just felt like something took me over and I can't explain what it was," Kim said, knowing that this was the closest to the truth that she was going to get with some of the rangers, others would find out everything. "I really can't."

"Okay," Trini said, sensing that Tommy, Jason, and Kim were becoming increasingly tired, again. "How about some food?"

"That would be great," Tommy said, putting his head down on the table. "I'm starved."

"So am I," Kim said, laying her head down to go to sleep as well. "Can you wake me up when it's ready?"

"Yeah, we can do that," Billy said, as he watched Jason, Tommy, and Kim go to sleep. "Did that answer any of your questions?"

"Some," Aisha said, "but I don't think that we will ever know the whole truth."

"I don't know if Kim knows the whole truth," Rocky said, "she wouldn't lie to us about this, would she?"

"No, she wouldn't," Trini said, surprised at how perceptive Rocky could be at some times. He may have been the one that got them to laugh so often, but when things like this happened, he could read into them much better than anyone would think. "I think a lot of it has to do with not wanting to remember what happened to all of us yesterday. I really don't want to remember it myself and she knows something the rest of us don't."

"Yeah, she knows Tommy and Jason's greatest fears," Billy said, remembering the research he had done on the aisle of deception, which was what they had, had to deal with first. "I wouldn't want to have the obligation to keep that a secret."

"I hope that isn't what Jason wanted to talk to me about," Trini whispered, as Zack shot her a suspicious look.

"Probably not," Aisha said, grabbing a bag of chicken out of the freezer. "Baked or fried?"

"Fried, we need the extra energy and I don't see the sleepyheads having a problem with that," Zack said, jokingly. He had never been a huge fan of healthy food, but was forced to eat it through the years because of different people in his life, but Aisha was a lot more flexible about things like that. "But it may be best for us to leave and let you cook by yourselves."

"Yeah, I would suggest that," Trini said with a smile and shoed them out of the kitchen. "Boys."

"Don't wake them up," Aisha said, talking to their backs.

"We won't, we are not as dumb as we appear to be sometimes," Adam said with a smile and thought about how great it was for all of them to be together again.

"What else do you want to fix?" Trini asked, getting out a bowl and some flour.

"I don't care, they will eat almost anything we put in front of them," Aisha said, as she began pulling out the items needed for a salad. "When are you going to talk to Billy?"

"About what?" Trini asked, shocked at Aisha's sudden change in subject. She had only told one person about her intentions to talk to Billy and Kim had gone to sleep the moment her head hit the pillow last night.

"Jason," Aisha said, cutting up a tomato. "That is what you need to talk to Billy about, right?"

"Yeah, it is," Trini said and found herself becoming more worried about how all of this would turn out. She didn't want to sever all ties with Billy, she just wanted them to go back to being friends. "How did you know that?"

"It's pretty obvious, Trini, but this is Billy we're talking about here," Aisha said, knowing that Trini got the full meaning of this statement loud and clear. The other guys, probably wouldn't have noticed, but it was exactly like Billy to notice a change like this in Trini, without saying anything to her.

"I know," Trini said, as she put the battered chicken in some hot oil. "But that is what makes this the hardest, it is Billy and he's one of the best friends I have ever had."

"He will still be one of your best friends, maybe even a better friend," Aisha said. "Trust me, you won't be like Tommy and Kim."

"So what are we going to do?" Rocky asked, as the walked back into the sleeping quarters. This was the only room that was empty and they had soon settled themselves comfortably around the room. "We've been asked to leave the kitchen and we can't play tricks on them, what's left to do?"

"A lot," Billy said, taking a deep breath. He knew that this was probably the only time he could say what he was about to without being yelled at. "We will have to destroy these powers once we get back to Earth."

"What would be the harm of keeping them?" Zack asked, not liking how this was likely to effect all of them. "It's not like we would ever use them for evil."

"I know, but I am just following through on Zordon's commands. What else can I do?" Billy asked, feeling a huge burden upon his shoulders. He knew that none of the others had been told this and that Zordon had his reasons, even if he didn't agree with them. "He expected us to do what is right and this is the only thing that is right. We weren't meant to take these powers back forever, just long enough to destroy Nicarni-Aso."

"That's wonderful," Adam said, slumping down in a chair. "I was starting to enjoy all of this."

"It's not going to be as bad as last time. I'm sure we'll all want to see each other after this is over and we'll go through the withdrawal together, not alone like last time," Billy said.

"You know the only thing that would make this more like old times is if Jason and Kim were arguing and Tommy was the referee," Zack said with a laugh. "I missed that, these last few years it hasn't been the same with the two of them fighting and everyone else trying not to pick sides."

"Yeah," Rocky said. "Do you remember when Jason and Kim came back for that visit and we were told everything?"

"I do," Zack said. "I went to talk to Zordon about it later and he just made it all seem like this was meant to be, even though those two idiots were fighting and none of us were sure how we'd pull off the impossible if something didn't change."

"Yeah, he did," Rocky said. "But there is no need for us to get depressed because of something that happened years ago."

"The food is ready," Trini said, sticking her head into the room the boys were congregating in.

"Good, I'm starved," Rocky said, quickly standing up from his seat on the floor.

"Of course, you always are," Aisha said, as the boys sat down around the sleeping rangers. "Who wants to wake them up?"

"I will," Trini volunteered, as the others seemed to be very apprehensive about waking them up, not that they were likely to do anything to them. "Come on guys, lunch is ready."

"Okay," Jason said, sitting up slowly and Tommy soon followed suit, while Kim remained in a deep sleep.

"Come on, Kim. Lunch is ready," Tommy said, reaching over and softly shaking her shoulder. The bruises on all of them had become more evident, but the fighters had many more. Billy had already created a type of lotion that would decrease their appearance, so no one on Earth would find the bruises out of the ordinary.

"Okay," Kim said, looking over at Tommy who had now settled his arm around her. "What are we eating?"

"Comfort food," Aisha said, as she set down a platter of fried chicken, while Trini brought in a salad. The table had also been set with, rice, biscuits, and green beans, just to name a few things that Aisha and Trini had decided to prepare, for this spur of the moment feast.

"This looks great," Jason said, as he reached out to start filling his plate.

"Can we say the blessing first?" Kim asked, as Jason slowly moved his hand away from the platter of fried chicken.

"Sure," Billy said, wondering when Kim had become so religious. "Tommy, would you please…"

"Yeah," Tommy said, taking a hold of Kim and Adam's hands, as the others did the same. "Let us pray. Dear God, thank you so much for the blessings that you have given us and for Trini's safe return back to us. Please continue to bless us, as you have all of our life and please let this food nourish our bodies and for our bodies to continue in your service. In Jesus name I pray, amen."

"Amen," Kim echoed, very softly.

"Dig in," Tommy said, reaching for the rice and putting a small mound of it on his plate.

"Why did you fix so much food?" Kim asked, as she began filling her plate with her favorites out of the assortment of food.

"Look at Jason and Tommy's plates, that should give you a good idea why," Aisha said with a smile, as Kim looked at the plates that were now overflowing with food.

"I get the point," Kim said with a smile and they all went into a comfortable silence, that can only be accompanied by people who are thoroughly satisfied with their meals.

"So, when is it going to be official?" Jason asked, after swallowing a large mouthful of food.

"When is what going to be official?" Tommy asked, as he seemed to be the only one who had not promptly shoved a mouthful of food in their mouth when Jason began to talk.

"The two of you dating again," Jason said, as Kim choked on some water and Tommy looked at him in shock.

"Don't you think that you are jumping the gun a little bit on that one Jason?" Kim asked, although she was forgiven, she was expecting it to be awhile before Tommy put his heart out on the line again.

"No," Jason said, knowing exactly how Tommy felt. "What do you think, Tommy?"

"You may be on the right track, but I'm not telling any of you anything until the two of us know what is going on," Tommy said, trying to keep a blush from rising to the surface.

"Come on, you're no fun," Aisha said with a smile, as Kim looked at her with a sly smile on her face.

"You're one to talk, Aisha," Kim said, looking from Aisha to Zack and then raised her eyebrow. "Unless I'm wrong, we should be asking you and Zack the same question."

"Before you start throwing food, maybe we should save this topic for a time when we all are a little bit more rested and able to take it," Rocky said, spreading his arms out in front of the two girls' faces. "You can't let good food go to waste."

"We wouldn't do that," Kim said, with a laugh. "Do you remember when Tommy came back and his cake got kicked into Bulk's face?"

"Yeah, but it was good for a laugh," Zack said. "I wonder how Bulk and Skull are doing now."

"Who knows," Billy said. "Anything is possible, look at all of us. I don't think many of us did what we were expected to do."

"You can say that again," Kim said, knowing that she had always though Tommy and she would be engaged or even married by now, but things went a little bit wrong in that plan. "Why did things have to change so much after high school?"

"We changed, some of us moved away and some of us choose to stay away from everything that we had once loved," Trini said, as Kim started to feel extremely guilty.

"I'm sorry for what I did. I know that it had to be hell on all of you having to deal with a moody, depressed leader," Kim said, not being able to look any one in the eye. "It just made sense at the time and then I realized how much I had messed up, that's what kept me away. I didn't want to disappoint any of you ever again."

"I have news for you, Kim," Zack said and Kim finally looked up from examining she and Tommy's hands. "We will all disappoint each other again, but we're friends and we'll make it through. We made it through the two of you breaking up, I think we can handle almost anything now."

"Yeah," Kim said and the conversation went through a multitude of subjects, some funny and others were truly heartbreaking.

Over the next three days, they had many more conversations such as this, which took them back in time to when there only worries were passing Ms. Applebee's next test or getting into the college they wanted to be accepted into. They talked about college, which had gone quite differently than expected for most of them. Who would have expected Tommy to become a science teacher or Aisha to go into engineering? Things had obviously changed, which made them grow more attached to those around them.

AN: Let me know how you feel about this chapter! Thanks so much to those of you that read this story and to those of you who have reviewed me in the past! So, until next time this is it!


	15. A Day at the Beach

Disclaimer: I do not own the Power Rangers. I do own the characters Nicarni-Aso, Zefoid, the asoriods, the amephors, and the planets Asoriotan and Nonatasion. I also own the armor flexor, invisashield, and any other weapons that you have never heard used on the Power Ranger series.

**Daisyz:** No, no, no, no, no! This isn't the end of this story, that was just the end of that chapter, I plan to write between five and six more chapters for this one, sorry for confusing you!

**Ghostwriter:** Thanks for the review!

**rp:** Thanks for the review, but who is PastelGarlic? I don't know if you accidentally reviewed the wrong story, but I have no clue who you are talking about. If you'd tell me who it is, I'd really appreciate it.

Now, on with the story!

_Kim's POV _

We arrived at the Command Center late last night, which led to another night of sleeping on the floor, but at least we got back home safely this time. Our trip back home was uneventful, but none of us got the amount of rest we desperately needed after battling Nicarni-Aso and her troops for so long. Most of my bruises have started to clear up, even if they do continue to be painful, thanks to Billy's ointment. Tommy and Jason's bruises have also gone from a dark purple to a greenish color over the last few days, which has littered our skin with greenish-yellow patches, but at least they are barely noticeable.

Jason. He is another subject all by himself, he is worrying himself sick about talking to Trini. Over the last three days, he had many opportunities to talk to her, but he is not willing to take that step. I don't know if it was the fear of hurting Billy or the fear of being rejected, but he didn't say a word to her about it. Every night, he would come in miserable, which made Tommy and I encourage him to talk to her even more than we were already. Jason doesn't think that Trini will be receptive to what he has to say and this is the only time that I wish he knew what I know about all of this. That will be taken care of later, but for the time being I think all of us are glad to be back in Angel Grove. After our experience this place has never looked better.

"Good morning!" Zack said, loudly, in an upbeat tone. He seemed to be the only morning person out of this group, so it was almost a guarantee that he would wake up first on any given day.

"It's too early to be so chipper," Trini mumbled, throwing a pillow in the general direction of the disturbance, which landed on, a still sleeping, Tommy's head.

"All of you promised to do we would do something today," Zack said, he had gotten a little stir crazy after being cooped up on a ship for the past three days. Not that the others hadn't; he just seemed to be a little bit more vocal about his dislike of being aboard a crowded ship with nothing interesting to do.

"But not at the crack of dawn, Zack," Tommy said, sitting up slowly as Kim pulled at his shirt to try to keep him from getting up.

"Tommy," Kim complained, finally feeling brave enough to open her eyes to the bright morning sunshine.

"Come on, why don't we go get breakfast at Ernie's and leave a note for the rest of them to join us when they all wake up," Tommy said, picking Kim up off the floor, as she winced at him touching some of the unseen bruises. "Sorry, I forgot about the bruises."

"You owe me one," Kim said, as Tommy put her down. "Let's go if we're going to beat all of the teenagers there."

"You are going to go out looking like that?" Zack asked, as Kim looked pretty rough, with her hair sticking out at odd angles and some dirt was smeared across her face, which had appeared last night when she stumbled off of the ship at about midnight.

"Do I have time to shower and fix my hair?" Kim asked, looking over at the impatient Zack. She knew that she would prefer to look better, but she didn't want to hear Zack complaining this early in the morning. She did not have the patience to deal with it this early today.

"Yeah, it's only 6:30. Ernie's won't be open for another hour and a half," Zack said, as Kim grabbed a towel and headed for the showers.

"You're lucky you have friends like us," Kim said, playfully hitting Zack on the chest with her towel as she passed by him. "I'll be done in a little bit."

"Take your time," Tommy said, watching her until she disappeared from his sight. "I've got something to talk to you about."

"Tommy, I don't need to be lectured," Zack said, having gotten speeches from Jason and Billy already about Aisha's and his situation. Rocky and Adam had stayed distant about everything that was going on with the two of them, which was to be expected as they were closer to Aisha than Zack.

"I'm not going to lecture you. I just wanted to tell you that you don't need to take for granted what you have right now, it may not be there when you need it later on if you don't try your hardest," Tommy said, thinking about his own situation.

"I know, but shouldn't you be following your own advice?" Zack said, as they heard the water turn on, which allowed them to talk like normal people.

"Yeah, that's another thing I need to talk to you about. I gave Kim a promise ring, so many years ago and for the first time in years I feel that it is about time, I got something to fulfill the promise I made. Of course, I'll have to go to the jewelry story in Reefside before anything else will happen," Tommy said, and then sighed. "But I can't really blame myself about all of this, can I?"

"No, you can't exactly blame yourself for her breaking up with you, but you can blame yourself in part for keeping it that way for so long," Zack said, with a smile. They all knew that this was going to happen eventually, but they weren't expecting it to take almost six years for them to get back together.

"I know," Tommy said, shaking his head. "But the first thing I have to do is get up the courage to ask her out again and then I'll have to work on getting my courage up to propose."

"You know what her answer will be, Tommy. Why do you worry so much about how she will respond to you?" Zack asked, thinking back to another time that Tommy had done this very same thing. "She said yes last time, I am almost one hundred percent sure that she will say yes this time, too."

"That's easy for you to say, you haven't had your heart broken by her before," Tommy said, with a hint of sadness in his voice.

If truth be known, he had forgiven Kim a long time ago, but now it was time to start over and that scared him more than anything else did. He didn't know what he would do if she did the same thing to him again, he didn't have the Power Rangers anymore, and that would definitely make a difference in how he would react, if that happened again. Billy had destroyed their morphers as soon as they got home, so they were only held together by friendship and losing the powers made them feel horrible.

"I know, but you didn't see how much it hurt her too," Zack said. He had gone to visit her in Florida soon after the breakup and it wasn't a pleasant visit. Instead of enjoying the beach, he spent that week consoling a grieving friend, who was too scared to try to make amends with the one man that she loved. "There is a saying that if you let something go and it comes back to you, it was meant to be; if it doesn't then it is for the best that it is gone. She came back to you, Tommy, I don't think she will ever do that to you again and if she does, all of us will take her to the Psyche Ward for you."

"Okay," Tommy said with a smile as they heard the water shut off. "Do you mind keeping what I said a secret?"

"No," Zack said.

"And the rest of you who are acting like you are asleep, you agree?" Tommy asked, knowing that Trini and Jason were awake, but had kept themselves quiet, in hopes of finding out more about Tommy's intentions.

"Yes," Jason and Trini mumbled, before Trini went back to sleep, while Jason started thinking about what he should do. Trini meant a lot to him and if he waited too long, he might lose her as well.

"Tommy, can you bring me my bag?" Kim asked, sticking her head out from behind the bathroom door.

"Which one is it?" Tommy asked, walking over to the pile of duffel bags that had been thrown in one corner of the room, before they all collapsed from exhaustion.

"The pink one, what do you think?" Kim said, as Tommy spotted the bright pink bag and picked it up out of the pile. He then turned and took the bag over to the door.

"This one?" Tommy asked with a mischievous grin, as Kim jerked the bag away from him before Tommy could get any crazy ideas.

"Yes," Kim said and quickly shut the door in his face.

"Are we even?" Tommy asked to the gray-blue steel door.

"No, we're not, but I'll think about what you can do to pay me back for all of this," Kim said, and even though Tommy couldn't see her, he knew she was smiling.

"Alright," Tommy said and walked away grinning. He knew what he was going to do to pay her back and all that he could hope was that she would say yes.

"What is that goofy grin for?" Jason asked, not seeing the point in faking sleep anymore. Tommy had only had that look on his face one time before and it was Kim had first agreed to go out with him.

"I think that I'm going to go back to Reefside tonight," Tommy said, knowing that his previous conversation would fill in the blanks for Jason. "Does anyone else want to come?"

"I will and I guess my job will be to distract someone," Jason said as the bathroom door opened.

"Oh no you won't," Kim said, walking up behind Jason, fully dressed, but she had decided that she would let her hair dry on its own today. "You have someone you have to talk to, remember?"

"I know, but this is going to take a lot of planning," Jason said with a sigh. He did not want to be the one to break up Trini and Billy, but he also knew that he was going to be absolutely miserable until he got all of this off his chest. If only he had been smart enough to tell her when there wasn't a third party involved. Of course, he wasn't smart enough to do that at the time and was now suffering because of his ignorance.

"No, it won't. I'll do the planning if you want me to," Kim said, setting her bag down with the others and grabbing her purse. "You want to come to breakfast with us?"

"Sure, are you leaving a note for everyone else?" Jason asked, pulling on a pair of jeans and a red T-shirt.

"Yeah, you don't think Ernie will mind seeing us this early in the morning, do you?" Tommy asked jotting down a quick note and leaving it on the command center door.

"After not seeing some of us for five years, I think he will be happy to see us," Zack said and they then teleported to the Juice Bar. Their old teenage hang out had not changed much of the past few years; the old sign was still there, as well as Ernie, which was the one person they were looking forward to seeing in Angel Grove.

"Ernie, do you still remember our usual?" Jason asked, knowing that he probably looked the most familiar out of the four young adults.

"My good Lord, where did you come from?" Ernie asked, as they sat down at the bar. The last time he could remember seeing all of them was almost five years ago, at least and it was scary how time had not changed them as much as he thought they would. "It's been forever since I've seen all of you, how have you been?"

"Alright," Kim said, with a smile. "You better get used to seeing us, I think that most of us will be making ourselves your frequent customers again."

"That would be nice," Ernie said, going to fix some smoothies. "Where are you living?"

"Angel Grove," Zack and Jason answered.

"Reefside," Tommy said.

"I don't know at the moment. I just kinda left Florida about a week ago," Kim said, not looking any of her fellow rangers in the eyes.

She didn't want them to ask any questions about it now. All of them, including Jason, had thought she would be heading back the second everything was over, but that had never been her plan at all. She was just thankful that she was at least on speaking terms with her old boyfriend, although that was just good luck after all these years, if you asked her.

"The others coming in anytime soon?" Ernie asked, as they each took a smoothie and a bagel off the tray that he had set in front of them.

"They will when they wake up," Zack said.

"They all asleep on the floor in your apartment?" Ernie asked, knowing that this had been a common occurrence for this group of friends while in high school, although there just seemed to be something else there.

"Yeah," Jason said. "It may take them awhile to get here, most of them don't like getting up this early in the morning."

"I know how they feel," Ernie said. "So who are each of you dating or married to?"

"No one," Jason said miserably.

"Aisha, kinda. That's a long story," Zack said, not willing to share much more at the time.

"And the two of you?" Ernie asked, as Kim and Tommy had both remained silent, not knowing if it was the other or if they were single.

"Her," Tommy said, taking a leap of faith that Kim would take this as his way of asking her out.

"That's great. When did that happen?" Ernie asked, knowing what had happened years ago. He could remember Tommy coming in for a month straight and eating a banana split all by himself. The boy had, had it bad and it seemed the man that he turned in to felt the same way.

"Just now," Tommy said with a smile, as Kim shook her head in disbelief. Tommy had always been able to make her speechless and he proved that he still had that ability, without him even knowing.

"Congratulations," Ernie said, smiling at the young couple. "Let me guess, you're already planning on getting married?"

"We haven't talked about that yet," Kim said, finding her voice after a long period of silence. "After my mess up, I think it'll be awhile before we even mention that."

"Don't bet on that one," Jason muttered and then Tommy hit him on the backside of his head.

"What was that for?" Kim asked looking up at Tommy, who now had a look of rage in his eyes.

"Nothing," Jason said quickly, as Zack stifled a laugh. "I was just being stupid."

"Listen, I know you haven't been here in awhile, but I've been asked to put together a fundraiser for Child Haven and I just can't think of anything to do," Ernie said, looking at the group of friends. They had always been able to help him before and he hoped that hadn't changed over the years. "Do you have any idea what I could do?"

"My school might let us hold a charity ball," Tommy said, thinking of what else could be done on that night. It would just have a built in way for him to propose, without Kim becoming overly suspicious. "But it's an hour drive away from here, Ernie."

"Well, if you are willing to set it up, I don't care where it is hosted," Ernie said, relieved that they had come through for him, once again. "I'll do whatever you need me to, if you'll just get it going."

"Okay, that should be fine," Kim said, excitedly. "When can we go see your school about all of this?"

"Tomorrow, if you want to go up to my house tonight," Tommy said, as his cheeks turned slightly pink.

"We all do," Zack said, knowing that it would take all three female rangers to plan something like this and it actually be a success. "That way we can all make sure there are no issues that can't be resolved."

"Okay," Tommy said with a smile and looked around to see that the Juice Bar had started to fill.

_Command Center _

"Does anyone know where Tommy, Kim, Jason, and Zack are?" Aisha asked, being the last one to wake up and noticed that they were missing from the group.

"They went to the Juice Bar this morning," Billy said, holding up a note that he had found taped the command center door.

"Why didn't they wait for us?" Aisha asked, walking over to find her duffel bag, before going to take a shower.

"I don't know," Rocky said, as his stomach growled. "Would you mind hurrying up? I'm on the verge of starving."

"Don't be so dramatic," Aisha said. "It should only take me about an hour to shower and get ready."

"No," Rocky moaned, as they other rangers laughed at their hungry friend's reaction.

"I'm only joking, Rocky," Aisha said with a smile. "It should take me about twenty minutes to get ready. Is there anything I should make sure to bring with me when we go to the Juice Bar?"

"Beach gear," Trini said. "I'm pretty sure that is what Zack will want to do today."

"Yeah," Aisha said, before disappearing behind the bathroom door.

"Trini, you know that we have to talk about something," Billy whispered in her ear and then looked at her with a sad smile.

He had never thought that this would happen, but he knew all to well that if he didn't do this now, it would possibly never happen. Jason and Trini were both his friends and even he knew that the relationship he had shared with Trini would all depend on if Trini finally admitted to herself how she felt about Jason. It hurt, a lot, but whatever made her happy would give him some happiness in his sorrow.

"I know, Billy, but I don't want to ruin all of this. Everyone is so happy," Trini whispered back, while watching Adam and Rocky settle in for a few more minutes of sleep.

"You're not going to ruin anything," Billy said, gently putting an arm around her. "I know how you feel and I'll let you do whatever you need to do, but please don't stomp on my heart too hard."

"Billy," Trini said, on the verge of tears. "I'm sorry, I didn't know that this was how I felt, but being around him made me see it."

"Trini, I'm alright," Billy said, giving her a friendly hug and he felt the tears soak through his shirt. "I'll survive, but you are sure that this is what you want to do?"

"Yes," Trini whispered, looking up at Billy, who was somehow managing to smile, "who knows, maybe Tommy has a friend."

"It's gonna be awhile before I date again, but I'll keep it in mind," Billy said, knowing that this was certainly the easiest way on the both of them. They didn't hate each other, so what was the use in being bitter about their breakup? They had been friends before and going back to friends would be bearable, for now and would get better as time went on.

"Thank you, Billy," Trini said, smiling at him. "I know how much this hurts you, but I promise that you will find your soul mate, one day. You're too good of a guy to not find her and she'd be a fool to turn you down."

"Thanks," Billy said, as Aisha came back into the room, ready for a day of fun.

"Are you ready to go to Ernie's?" Aisha asked, throwing a shoe at Rocky.

"Yes," Rocky said, eagerly getting up, as Adam took his time standing up. They then teleported to the Juice Bar and walked in to see that they were definitely the oldest people in the Juice Bar, besides Ernie himself.

"What time did you leave this morning?" Adam asked, walking up to the bar.

"Early," Tommy said, with a smile, "but I don't think that Zack could have stood to be cooped up any longer, so we thought it would be best to let the rest of you sleep."

"How does the beach sound?" Zack asked, as the others grabbed some bagels and various drinks of their own. "We'll all be able to do whatever we want and after that we can go to Jason's before we head to Reefside."

"Sounds good, but when did we decide to go to Reefside?" Aisha asked, watching the boys shovel food into their mouths.

"We'll explain everything at the beach," Kim said and stood up to go pay Ernie.

"It's on the house," Ernie said with a smile, before he received a huge hug from Kim.

"Thank you and we'll do a good job on the charity event, I promise," Kim said.

"Do we need to go back to the command center?" Tommy asked, as soon as they had gotten away from most of the customers. He knew that he was not prepared for a day at the beach and had the feeling that some of the others wouldn't be either.

"I don't," Trini said, holding up a beach bag.

"Well, who else needs to go?" Tommy asked, hoping he wasn't the only one who had not prepared himself for one of Zack's favorite activities. His forgetfulness had come in full swing over the summer holidays and he hoped that he would be able to rid himself of it at the beginning of the school year.

"Me," Kim said, noticing the others wore sly grins.

"Let's go," Tommy said, as the checked to make sure no one was watching before teleporting to the command center.

"They're dating again," Zack said, with a satisfied grin.

"What?" Aisha yelled, as a few people turned their heads toward her. They were not used to a bunch of college aged kids yelling and screaming in excitement. "When did that happen?"

"About an hour ago, but never mind that. Let's hit the beach," Jason said, as they walked out onto the pavement.

_At the Beach _

"Hey, what took you so long?" Trini asked, as Tommy and Kim walked up to Jason and she. They were the only ones that had decided to wait for their breakfast to settle before hitting the water.

"Someone forgot to bring a bathing suit, so we had to go buy one," Tommy said, trying to act as if he was mad, but you could hear the hint of joking in his voice, no matter how much he tried to disguise it.

"What's it look like?" Trini asked, looking over Jason, who had decided he wanted to sit up.

"Nothing too special," Kim said, who still had her suit hidden under a fitted shirt and blue jean shorts. "Just a little pink and white bikini."

"How little, is little?" Jason asked. He had always been protective of Trini and Kim and he definitely didn't like when either one of them wore anything too skimpy, although he hadn't looked at Trini's attire yet.

"Not that little," Kim said, taking off her shirt and throwing it in her beach bag.

"Not that little my ass," Jason said, the top didn't look like it was anymore than a white bra with pink hearts on it and he wasn't sure if he wanted her to take off her shorts.

"It's fine Jason," Trini said with a laugh. "Look at some of the other suits that people are wearing, that is decent."

"I think it's fine, if that helps any," Tommy said, analyzing how the suit looked from the back and knew that this was one thing he could definitely get used to. Kim was still as petite as ever and although the suit covered everything, it still did not leave enough to Tommy's imagination and Jason knew that.

"You wouldn't mind if she wasn't wearing anything at all, so no that does not help any," Jason said, before looking over at Trini. He then realized that her suit was just as revealing as Kim's was, but he didn't mind since he didn't think anyone else would notice it.

"Jason, have the two of you talked?" Kim asked, looking down at him with a rather intimidating glare.

"No, we haven't had the chance to," Jason said, looking away from Trini to keep her from seeing him blush.

"Bull shit," Tommy said playfully and pointed towards the others, who were in the water. "I think that we're going to go join the others, so why we're gone you could talk to her."

"We'll talk when we talk, alright?" Trini said, looking up at the couple who finally saw the defeat of their attempt and began walking away.

"Fine, Trini, but I know what went on with you and Billy this morning," Kim said and then continued on her way to the water. She knew that it would only be a matter of seconds before Jason's curiosity over took him and that proved to be the key in this situation.

"What happened to you and Billy?" Jason asked, looking over at Trini who had now buried her face in her hands. "Trini, what happened?"

"The inevitable, Jason," Trini said as she felt Jason put his arm around her, in a friendly attempt to help her get over whatever was going on. "And it is all my fault, I was the one that figured out that I loved someone else. I've really hurt him, Jason and I never meant to do that."

"I know you didn't mean to," Jason said, knowing that this was not a good time to ask who she had fallen in love with, "Billy will be fine, you know that. Look at him now, he doesn't seem to be a heartbroken person."

"He doesn't look like it, but he is," Trini said, looking at the seven rangers who were having a water war.

"Sure," Jason said, as he saw a tall blonde-haired woman wearing a pale pink bikini join the other rangers.

"Jason, are you alright?" Trini asked, following his gaze that had fallen on Katherine. She knew that the two of them had dated casually, but had never become a couple. Of course, it did seem like Jason was now the one that would have to clear things up with a significant other.

"You want to join them?" Jason asked, standing up and brushing the sand off of his swim trunks before offering a hand to help Trini up.

"That sounds like fun," Trini said, taking his hand and she noticed that he didn't release her from his grasp until they had reached the water.

"I was just asking where the two of you were," Katherine said, looking over at Jason and Trini as she saw Jason let go of Trini's hand.

"How are you doing?" Jason asked, feeling slightly guilty.

"Fine, Jason, and I meant what I said to you earlier this week," Katherine said, with a stare that could have bored its way inside of his brain with little effort.

"Okay," Jason said with a smile, before giving Katherine a tight hug. "You're not mad?"

"I'm about as mad at you as I was at Tommy when I ended things with him," Katherine said, smiling, before she was hit with a stream of water. "No fair."

"We don't play fair," Adam said, with a laugh as Katherine charged after him.

"I don't want to talk about fairness for about a year if you don't mind," Tommy said, as some students from Reefside walked by and waved at their teacher.

"Who are they?" Kim asked, with mock jealousy as she watched the teenage girls go giggling down the beach.

"Some of my students," Tommy said, as Jason let out a laugh. "What is that for?"

"Looks like they have a crush on Mr. Oliver, now don't they?" Jason said and promptly got splashed with a small wave of water.

"I've tried explaining to all of them that I am not available, but they won't listen to me," Tommy said in a very aggravated tone.

He knew that he wanted to teach for the rest of his life, but he was planning to start on his doctorate at the end of the year, after going through an accelerated master's program. He also knew that his students would continue to have crushes on him until well after he was married and he didn't like that idea at all.

"You were available last year Tommy," Katherine said, before being dunked by Adam.

"I know, but I'm not single anymore," Tommy said, laughing at Katherine's expression as she came back up.

"You think this is funny, do you?" Katherine said and then dragged Kim under water.

"I wasn't laughing, it was him," Kim said, coming up completely soaked.

"I know, but there is no way I could dunk him," Katherine said, as they both looked at Tommy with mischievous grins.

"We'll help you," Zack said, walking after the two of them.

"No, guys this is crazy," Tommy said as he continued to go out into deeper water.

"It's not that crazy, Tommy," Kim said, having gotten to the point where she couldn't touch anymore and had to start swimming.

"Yes, it is," Tommy said, as the two women leapt at him and dragged him under water.

"Good one," Katherine said high five-ing Kim.

"Same to you," Kim said trying to swim back to shore, but found herself being held back.

"Now where do you think you are going?" Tommy asked, pulling her back even with him.

"Back to the shallow water," Kim said, treading water next to him. "Tommy, please don't do anything crazy. I can't keep on treading water much longer."

"I'll give you a ride back to the shore, if you trust me," Tommy said, as Kim climbed on his back.

"I trust you, I think our trust issue works the other way around most of the time," Kim said, as Tommy swam, lazily back to shore.

The remainder of their day at the beach was spent having multiple water fights, in between some much-needed naps for some of them. Tommy, could not separate himself from Kim, no matter how much he tried to, he was stuck again. Zack and Aisha, although they had not talked, seemed to be getting along much better while Trini and Jason didn't seem to have a clue as to what to do about themselves. Billy was silently grieving his break-up, but he knew that the pain was only temporary and that with any luck what Trini said would come true. Katherine stayed the rest of the day and a barely noticed attraction between Adam and she had seemed to materialize over the last few hours. When they finally went back to the command center, it was almost five o'clock and they still had to travel to Reefside.

AN: That is all for this chapter and I am sorry for any confusion I caused with the author's note at the end of my last chapter. That was NOT the end of the story and I do plan to write about five or six more chapters before I end this story. Thanks for reading and please review!


	16. Welcome to Reefside

Disclaimer: I do not own the Power Rangers. I do own the characters Nicarni-Aso, Zefoid, the asoriods, the amephors, Mrs. Alison Sipper, Tanya Sipper, and the planets Asoriotan and Nonatasion. I also own the armor flexor, invisashield, and any other weapons that you have never heard used on the Power Ranger series.

**Daisyz:** Thanks for the review and I'm sorry, but this story will have to end sometime, but it might have a sequel (hint, hint).

**jedi4jesus19:** This story takes place before DinoThunder, I have to admit I have not watched much of that series so I am not sure when Tommy moved to Reefside, but Tommy and Kim are not together in the TV episodes of DinoThunder, so if I write a story with that in mind, it will probably not follow the one on TV at all.

**Ghostwriter:** Thanks for the review and I hope that you enjoy this next chapter.

Now, on with the Story!

"Welcome to beautiful Reefside," Tommy said, as they entered the city limits at about six o'clock. They had been on the roadway for the past forty-five minutes and Tommy was glad that they were making good time, as he had been worried about having to slow down in order for Jason to keep up. "It may be best that we eat somewhere before we go to my house, I don't have any groceries. Blame it on bachelor life."

"I'll call Jason and tell him," Kim said, wishing that they still had the communicators. Billy had destroyed their communicators about an hour ago and she was not enjoying it at all. She didn't know how they did it, but they had somehow managed to fit all ten of them into two cars, without a fight breaking out. "Jase?"

"Yeah," Jason said, holding the phone to his ear.

"Tommy says he doesn't have any food at his place, so follow him wherever he is taking us," Kim said, as Tommy scowled at her. He knew that he was a bachelor, but now it really hit him hard, knowing that if he had been dating Kim before the mission, they would have eaten at his home, as he would have had some food there.

"Alright, but remind him that I never raced, so he's going to have to slow down some," Jason said, as he sped along trying to keep up with Tommy, who seemed to be in a hurry.

"Okay," Kim said, thinking that Jason had sure gotten cautious in the past few years, as he had never been one to complain about how fast someone was driving. "We'll see you when we all get there."

"Okay, bye," Jason said and flipped his phone closed. "We are going out to eat, somewhere."

"Big surprise," Zack said. "I know that is what we would have done at my place."

"Bye," Kim said and looked over at Tommy's speedometer, which read right at seventy-five miles per hour. "Tommy, you have to slow down. Jason's not a race car driver, you know."

"Oops," Tommy said and took his foot off the gas to slow his jeep down. "Where do you want to go?"

"We don't care," Rocky said, as his stomach rumbled for the second time that day. He did not like the feeling of being much more hungry than usual, twice in one day.

"I do," Katherine said, rather hastily, "that is if the rest of you don't care."

"Your suggestion is bound to be better than any of theirs," Kim said with a smile and turned around to look at Katherine.

"How about Chinese?" Katherine asked, rather timidly, it had always been her favorite and she did not want to bring up any bad memories for Tommy.

"That sounds good," Kim said, looking over at Tommy, who seemed as if he was not pleased by their decision. "Are you alright with that, Tommy?"

"Yeah, but I'm going to take a little detour before I eat," Tommy said, as they passed a jewelry store, he then received some very confused looks from the occupants of his car, hoping that did not mean they would have to wait to eat.

"I thought you were starving," Rocky said, thinking that Tommy could possibly be willing to hold him up from eating, but knew in the back of his mind that Tommy would drop them off first.

"No, that's you, Rocky," Tommy said with a laugh, as he pulled into a parking space, in front of the Chinese restaurant. "Just save me a seat."

"Alright," Kim said, as Jason pulled into the parking space on the passenger's side of Tommy's vehicle. "Don't take too long of you might not have anything left to eat."

"I'm sure that they will leave some food," Tommy said, glaring at Rocky.

"Yeah, we will," Rocky said, trying to get out from under Tommy's glare.

"Good," Tommy said and began walking down the sidewalk, towards the jewelry store.

"Where is he going?" Zack asked, as they entered the buffet style restaurant.

"I have no clue, but whatever it is seems important," Kim said, as the hostess came up to seat them.

"How many?" The hostess asked, looking at the group of adults and silently wondering if they were two separate parties.

"Ten," Kim said, as she was the closest to the young woman.

"All of you are the same party?" The hostess said, as she grabbed the silverware for all of them. It had been a very long time since they had this big of a crowd and she was honestly worried about the seating configuration of the restaurant.

"Yes," Jason said, stepping forward. "Sorry about the inconvenience, this was a spur of the moment get together."

"It's fine. I'll have a table for you in a moment," The hostess said, walking off to look for a table.

_Sipper's Jewelry Store _

Tommy continued on his way until he reached Sipper's Jewelry Store, which according to most of the people he knew in Reefside, was the best jewelry store in town. He walked into the quaint little shop, which held over a dozen cases of jewelry, within its pale green walls. He immediately spotted a woman standing at the back of the store. She was a short woman, who choose to have her graying hair cut into a short bob, which framed her features. She had a friendly grin and upon seeing a new customer enter, she put on a pair of glasses that had been sitting atop her head, so that she could properly see the person.

"Hello, Mr. Oliver. What brings you here on such a lovely day?" Mrs. Alison Sipper asked, her oldest daughter had been a student of his the previous year and was smitten with him from what she could tell. Who wouldn't have been? All of the teenage girls seemed to have voted him the sexiest teacher ever within the first two days of school and now that she had met him in person, even she could see why that was so.

"A woman, Mrs. Sipper, " Tommy said, with a smile. He knew that Tanya Sipper was her daughter, which meant she probably knew more than another jewelry consultant would about him. Tanya was a straight A student, so he had never had any other opportunity to meet her family, but it was obvious that the two were related as they looked so much alike.

"So, you are looking for what? A necklace? A bracelet? Some earrings, maybe?" Mrs. Sipper asked, heading towards the cases that contained these items. She knew, from the rumor mill, that Mr. Oliver had not been seeing anyone, so he surely wouldn't have come looking for an engagement ring or any other type of ring for that matter.

"I'm sorry, but it is none of those Mrs. Sipper," Tommy said, as Mrs. Sipper stopped her hand in mid air from unlocking the back of the first particular case.

"Then what are you looking for, Mr. Oliver?" Mrs. Sipper asked, holding the key steadily between her thumb and index finger, as she focused her critical gaze upon his face, awaiting his response.

"I'm looking for an engagement ring," Tommy said, as his face turned slightly red at this confession. The older woman then looked at him with a dissatisfied glance, but she did turn herself toward the cases that would hold the rings in question.

"Oh, you are? Now, Mr. Oliver, please don't take any offense to this, but I have heard that you were single and have been for a long time. It's a surprise that you would want an engagement ring," Mrs. Sipper said, making her way over to the engagement rings, with slow methodical steps.

"Well I was, until a few days ago," Tommy said, as the woman dropped her keys in pure shock. This man must be some sort of lunatic if he was thinking of getting married to a woman he had only known for a few days. Tommy, quickly bent down to pick the keys up and then handed them back to Mrs. Sipper. "You see, my old girlfriend came back and I don't want to wait any longer than I have to."

"An old girlfriend you say?" Mrs. Sipper asked, having recomposed herself, at least he did know the person longer than she thought, but that still didn't explain why he was in her shop.

"Yes ma'am, we went to high school together and we actually dated through most of high school, but she broke up with me after she went to train for the Pan Am Globals. I know this sounds crazy, but even after almost five years apart, we still love each other," Tommy said, as he looked through the glass case, although nothing had caught his attention, yet.

"You know that you are going to upset a lot of teenage girls when you get married, don't you?" Mrs. Sipper asked with a bittersweet smile, she herself knew what he had gone through, but she had never been so lucky as to get a second chance.

"I know," Tommy said, with a laugh. "Your daughter will be one of them, right?"

"She'll live," Mrs. Sipper said, as she watched him looking carefully at each ring, but she could tell from his eyes that he had not seen the one he wanted to purchase. "Now, what does this special lady like?"

"That's hard to say," Tommy said, noticing several simple diamond rings, but none of these seemed to fit Kim. "I know that she loves diamonds, but that is not what I want to get her, I want to get her something that will mean more to her than that."

"Alright, what's her favorite color?" Mrs. Sipper asked and then steered Tommy towards a case that contained rings with diamonds and other assorted gems.

"Pink," Tommy said, without a bit of hesitation in his voice.

"Sassy, little lady, is she?" Mrs. Sipper asked, as she brought out about twenty rings for Tommy to look at.

"Yes ma'am," Tommy said, as he looked down at the rings that had been put in front of him. He then came to one that he liked and slowly picked it up to examine it further.

The ring had a white gold band with three oval shaped pink sapphires in the middle with two small oval diamonds flanking the edges of the two outer sapphires. He knew that it wasn't an ordinary engagement ring, but this wasn't an ordinary woman that he was going to ask to marry him. The price didn't matter anymore, this was what he wanted her to have, and he knew it would mean a lot to her.

"Mr. Oliver?" Tanya asked, walking out of the back room and almost dropping the box she was carrying. She was not expecting her science teacher to be standing in her mother's jewelry store and none of the girls ever wanted to look bad around him, which she did, in her opinion, at the moment.

"Hello, Tanya," Tommy said, flashing a quick grin at his student before taking one more look at the ring in his hand.

"Mr. Oliver, has come in to buy an engagement ring, Tanya," Mrs. Sipper said, in a tone that suggested it was best she leave, right away.

"Congratulations, Mr. Oliver," Tanya said and walked back out into the back room. This was a tiny shock, no this was a huge shock, but she figured that if Mr. Oliver hadn't deemed it wise to tell his students about his significant other, she would be wise to do the same.

"This is the one I want," Tommy said, handing it to Mrs. Sipper with a grateful look dancing upon his eyes.

"Well, the little lady should really like this one, Mr. Oliver. Are you sure this is the right size?" Mrs. Sipper asked, looking at the size six ring, with a little bit of apprehension.

"Yes ma'am, she hasn't changed that much since the last time I bought her a ring," Tommy said and Mrs. Sipper rang up the price.

"It costs," Mrs. Sipper said, as Tommy held up a hand to keep her from saying the price.

"I don't want to know, Mrs. Sipper," Tommy said and took a Visa card out of his wallet. "Just put it on this one, okay?"

"Alright, Mr. Oliver," Mrs. Sipper said and then handed him the receipt to sign. She then placed the ring in a small, black velvet ring box. "Here you go."

"Thank you so much," Tommy said, with a smile. "Hopefully I'll be coming back to get wedding rings some time soon."

"Your welcome," Mrs. Sipper said.

"I better get going, my friends might have eaten all of the food at the Chinese Buffet," Tommy said and then left the store.

"Tommy, what took you so long?" Kim asked, as he slipped into the chair next to her. Billy then saw a box peeking out of Tommy's pocket and grabbed in without him noticing.

"It took me a little bit longer than I thought it would to find what I wanted," Tommy said, with a smile and then picked up his plate. "Is there still some food left up there?"

"There is plenty," Jason said and then followed after Tommy. "What were you doing?"

"I told you I had to go to the jewelry store, Jase," Tommy muttered, just in case Kim was to walk up behind him. Jason, looked shocked for a second, before he realized what Tommy was saying.

"You already got a…" Jason said and then took a look around before he continued, "ring?"

"I told you I wanted to hurry things up, but I'm going to wait until after the charity ball to propose to her," Tommy said, glancing over at their table. "Don't tell the others, please. I know that Trini and Zack will figure it out, but I'd rather keep it a secret from the rest."

"Sure," Jason said as they walked back to the table.

"Tommy, did you forget something?" Billy asked, holding up a tiny package as Tommy's eyes widened.

"Where did you get that?" Tommy asked, walking over to Billy and taking the package out of his hands.

"It fell out of your pocket," Billy whispered, "nice choice."

"Thanks but…"Tommy said, before being cut off.

"I know, keep it a secret," Billy said, jokingly.

"So, where is your house?" Adam asked, out of curiosity.

"It's back in the woods," Tommy said, loading a forkful of food. "But I wouldn't have it any other way."

"Sounds nice," Aisha said. "How long will it take you to eat?"

"All of you are done?" Tommy asked, not realizing how long it had took him to pick out the ring.

"Except Rocky and me," Jason said with a smile. "And we'll stop whenever you want us to."

"Don't worry, Tommy. We'll let you eat," Trini said, with a smile.

"Why are you so quiet?" Katherine asked Kim.

"I'm just thinking," Kim said, pushing her plate away from the edge. "We need to talk sometime."

"Well, why don't we go for a walk around the block and give them sometime to finish eating?" Katherine said, knowing that the other pink ranger was quite worried and having a good guess of what it was.

"We have to pay, we can't," Kim said, shaking her head adamantly.

"No you don't," Tommy said, looking over at Kim. "I'll pay for yours."

"Tommy, you really don't have to. I have the money," Kim said.

"I've got Katherine's," Adam said, looking down the table towards Kim. "So what is keeping you from talking?"

"Nothing," Katherine said and stood to exit the restaurant.

"Kat, I don't know where to start," Kim said.

"I think I might," Katherine said, with a smile. "You are still worried about Tommy having some sort of feelings for me, aren't you?"

"Yes, I am," Kim said. "But who would blame me? Look at what I did to him, Katherine. How could I have been so stupid?"

"I don't know, but I will tell you this. He was never meant to marry me," Katherine said, looking down at the considerably shorter woman. "Neither was Jason, they both had other people that took up that special place in there heart. You are the person that Tommy has always pictured going home to, Kim. Don't question why you have been given a second chance, take it and don't look back."

"Thanks," Kim said. "How did you know that you told Jason that?"

"Let's just say that all the other rangers were secretly rooting for you," Katherine said with a smile, as they saw the others exit the restaurant.

"Come on!" Aisha yelled, down the street to the two pink rangers, who then jogged over to where they were standing.

"Coming!" Kim yelled, as she jogged up to Tommy's side. "Are we going home now?"

"Yes," Tommy said with smile and a wink, and thought about what Kim had said. "Try to keep up, Jason."

"I'll try," Jason said and they loaded up the two cars.

_Kim's POV _

We traveled for about twenty minutes, before we came to the little dirt pathway and the light was much dimmer as Tommy's jeep traveled through the natural awning, created by the mature oak trees. There were many twists and turns, so after a full meal, I was becoming very sleepy and was about to doze off, as we came to an opening at the end of the path. From the outside, Tommy's house was a light gray and with charcoal blue trim, it seemed to have been built into a hill, as you could see a porch with ten foot supports protruding off of the back of the house. It seemed obvious, that this was a bachelor's house, for the lack of plants in the new earth flowerbeds. Upon the hopes the inside would be less lackluster, I failed to notice a white car in the drive.

"Tommy, where have you been?" Hayley asked, stepping out of her car. The woman, who seemed to be about 5'3", had reddish-brown hair that went past her shoulders and small glasses that framed her bright green eyes.

"I've been busy with a conference in Angel Grove," Tommy said and embraced his friend before moving out of the way to reveal his other friends.

"Bull shit," Hayley said, folding her arms and looking at only Tommy. "I called the school and they had nothing planned for you. You know that you have some explaining to do, mister."

"Hayley?" Billy whispered, recognizing the girl he had met at his first year at Stanford, but he had never gotten to know her, as she had transferred after first semester.

"Who are all of you?" Hayley asked, blocking the doorway, before returning to her interrogation. "Tommy, answer my question."

"We had some business to take care of," Tommy said with an air of finality, before moving Hayley so he could unlock the front door.

"No way in hell," Hayley said, finally taking full notice of the other nine people and found that she recognized most of the faces from Tommy's pictures. "Where did you pick all of them up from?"

"Angel Grove," Tommy said, turning on the lights, to reveal a taupe colored lobby and living room. "Do you want to come in and meet all of them?"

"Sure," Hayley said walking in, as the others slowly followed. Tommy had a small foyer, with granite floors and an oak table on the left wall, which had mail and other assorted clutter, littered on its top. From here, they were able to see into the semi-dark living room, which contained an old, comfy recliner and two cushy, deep red, couches. His television was encased in a stained oak, built in cabinet against the far wall.

"You just started working last year?" Kim asked, looking around and knowing that her wages would not have paid for something like this.

"For the school system, yes, but I worked through college and was able to save up some money," Tommy said, looking around at his awed friends.

"I'm Kim, by the way," Kim said, offering a hand for Hayley to shake and she returned the gesture rather quickly.

"Hayley," Hayley said, and then went into big sister mode. Tommy had told her the whole story of the letter and she did not want him to get hurt again. "You're the one that broke his heart?"

"Yeah," Kim said, looking at the floor as Tommy slipped a protective arm around her. "Don't remind me."

"I'll try not to anymore, unless you plan on doing that again," Hayley said, as Tommy gave her a warning look that strongly suggested she drop the subject, immediately. Her gaze then fell on Billy, who seemed to look very familiar to her. "You look so familiar, where do I know you from?"

"Stanford, you came for your first semester," Billy said, as his voice brought back who he was in Hayley's memory.

"Billy?" Hayley asked, staring at him for a while before forcing herself out of that trance. "The two of you know each other?"

"Yes, hard to believe, isn't it?" Billy asked, with a laugh. "When did you get glasses?"

"When I started working with computers all day long," Hayley said and removed the glasses, out of impulse.

"Some of us are getting cold out here," Jason said loudly, as he saw Trini shiver from being left outside as the sun was setting.

"Sorry," Tommy said, as he ushered the rest of the Power Rangers out of the foyer and into the living room. "Does anybody want coffee?"

"No," they said in unison, as Hayley looked at them in shock. This group of friends had something hidden, but she just couldn't figure out what it was.

"Okay," Tommy said with a good-natured laugh, as he settled himself on one of the couches. "I was just asking."

"So, I know the two of them, but who is everyone else?" Hayley asked, as they situated themselves on the couches, recliner, and floor.

"I'll start," Jason said, sitting himself down beside Trini. "I'm Jason."

"Hi, I'm Trini," Trini said, waving a hand towards Hayley.

"Zack," Zack said.

"Aisha," Aisha said.

"Rocky," Rocky said.

"Adam," Adam said.

"And I'm Katherine," Kat said, hoping that Hayley wouldn't make a remark to her that was similar to the one she made to Kim.

"You are the other one, aren't you?" Hayley asked, recognizing the name from another one of Tommy's stories.

"Hayley, I've forgiven both of them," Tommy said, knowing that she meant well but was close to pissing Kim and Katherine off.

"And besides, he never fell as hard for me as he did Kim," Kat said, with a smile as she looked at the two of them.

"That's an understatement," Jason said, as Tommy looked around for a pillow to throw at him.

"Don't fight about this today," Kim said, leaning her head on Tommy's knee. "I'm to tired to be the ref."

"Alright," Tommy said, and placed a hand on top of her head. "Do you want to go ahead and go to sleep?"

"No, I can wait for a little while," Kim said, enjoying the company. "Hayley, what do you do for a living?"

"I own a cyber café," Hayley said. "It's close to the school, so I most of my customers are teenagers."

"Sounds like someone else we know," Jason said.

"Yeah, it does, but this is a little bit different than the Juice Bar, Jason," Tommy said, watching how Billy was reacting towards Hayley and inwardly smiled. He had the feeling that Billy would get over Trini a lot faster than he had anticipated.

"Tommy, have you seen the news about the Power Rangers being back in action?" Hayley asked, as this was one of her favorite subjects to banter with him about. She did not know that he was a Power Ranger, but she did know that every time she had said something negative about the Power Rangers, that she was usually given the silent treatment for awhile.

"Yeah," Tommy said and everyone in the room smiled, except Hayley. "It's amazing, isn't it? Did they defeat Nicarni-Aso?"

"From what I've heard they have, but we'll find that out for sure when there aren't any more weird occurrences in Reefside," Hayley said. "What are all of you smiling about?"

"Nothing," Aisha said, trying to contain her laughter. "It's just funny to hear about another group of Power Rangers after all these years."

"I don't think it's a new group," Hayley said, afraid to state her odd hypothesis in front of them. "I think it was some of the first ones, but what do I know about the Power Rangers? They could waltz right into my shop and I wouldn't know who they were."

"They're not supposed to be known, Hayley," Billy said, with a sigh of relief. She honestly seemed to be onto something from what he could tell. "It doesn't come with the job descriptionfor them to tell everyone who they are."

"How do you know so much about the Power Rangers?" Hayley asked, and gave a critical glance to everyone in the room.

"We grew up in Angel Grove," Trini said, sleepily. "You know a lot about them, when they originate from your hometown."

"I still think there is more to it than what all of you are saying, but since I can't prove it. I guess I'll have to live with all of this, unless I am lucky enough to meet them before my life is over," Hayley said.

"Tommy, where is a bedroom I can sleep in?" Kim asked, finally surrendering to her extreme exhaustion.

"I'll show you," Tommy said, letting Kim stand up before he got himself off the couch. "Anyone else ready to go to sleep?"

"Me," Trini, Aisha, and Kat said as they all stood up.

"Come on, I'll show you to a room," Tommy said, as he led them over to a set of stairs. They passed two rooms, before Tommy stopped at the third door. "Two of you can bunk up in there."

"I will," Kim said and started to walk in the room.

"So will I," Trini said and closed the door behind her.

"Here's the other room," Tommy said and opened the next door on the right.

"Thank you, Tommy," Aisha said, as Kat and she went inside and closed the door.

"Your welcome," Tommy said, then walked back downstairs.

"He gave us his room, Trini," Kim said, as she opened the closet and found all of Tommy's clothes hanging up. "I hope he doesn't mind me borrowing a T-shirt and a pair of boxers."

"I don't think he would," Trini said, grabbing her pajamas out of her bag. She had remembered to bring in her bag from the car, while it was obvious Kim had not.

"I can't believe he gave up his room," Kim said, having changed into a white T-shirt and black boxers. "Trini, I feel like such a bad person."

"Why?" Trini asked, looking over at her best friend, with astonishment.

"He takes me back, let's us stay here for the night and he gives up his own bedroom to let us get some rest," Kim said, throwing herself on the bed, which only smelled more like Tommy. "I don't deserve this."

"Jason doesn't deserve what I have done to him either," Trini said, sitting down on the bed.

"Trini, you didn't break his heart with a lie," Kim said, bluntly. "I did that and he may have forgiven me, but I haven't forgiven myself."

"Kim, are you happy that you have him back?" Trini asked.

"Yes," Kim said.

"Then, I would dwell on that and save the worrying for later," Trini said and then rolled over to go to sleep.

**AN:** I have never seen the DinoThunder series, so I do not know what Hayley looks or acts like. Please, do not send me flames if I have portrayed her inaccurately, which I am pretty sure that I have. If you would please tell me, in detail, what she is like I would really appreciate it. Thanks for reading and feel free to review!


	17. Talking to the Principal

Disclaimer: I do not own the Power Rangers. I do own the characters Nicarni-Aso, Zefoid, the asoriods, the amephors, Mrs. Alison Sipper, Tanya Sipper, and the planets Asoriotan and Nonatasion. I also own the armor flexor, invisashield, and any other weapons that you have never heard used on the Power Ranger series.

**Ghostwriter:** Thanks for the review and I'm completely sure I have not seen any of the DinoThunder series, but I have read about Hayley in some fan-fiction. Thanks for the review!

**Daisyz:** I guess I need to say that this story occurs before the DinoThunder series and before Tommy has gotten his PhD, so if Hayley knew about all of the rangers before the crystals came into play, let me know and I will probably go back and change the last chapter some.

**Warstock-Leonhart:** Thanks for the review and can you tell me if Hayley knew about Tommy and the others being Power Rangers before he got his PhD, if so, then I WILL change the last chapter.

**pastel garlic:** Thank you for the review and I'm glad that you decided to reread the story and you think it has improved some. I would appreciate the reviews, because yours give me an idea as to what might need changing.

Now, on with the story!

On a quiet Tuesday morning, Tommy Oliver found himself staring at the ceiling and wondering about everything that happened over the past week and a half to him. Some of the bad memories flashed through his mind more often than he wished to count, while the good came less often, as it always did at times like these.

The reality that his life might actually turn out like he wanted it to, was starting to sink in and he liked it more, the longer he thought about it. He might actually marry the woman he loved and not have to worry about her being in harms way any longer. From his position, on the couch, he could see all of the doors remained closed upstairs and was content to daydream, until the first person migrated downstairs, then he would have to come back to this world.

"Why did you sleep downstairs, Tommy?" Kim asked, walking into the living room, to see Tommy stretched out on the couch, with his feet hanging over the edge. She could tell he was awake, but she still did not want to completely ambush him, knowing that they all would be very jumpy for a long time to come. It always seemed to happen when they had recently been on a ranger mission.

"Because you are my guests and you deserve to be comfortable and this couch isn't that bad," Tommy said, as he stretched himself a little bit more from the position he was in. His back was killing him, but it was nothing that some mild stretching wouldn't cure after a few hours.

"Tommy, I don't deserve this, not after what I did to you," Kim said, sitting on the adjacent couch. She did not want to be in close proximity with him while she confessed everything to him. They had made amends before the mission, but they had not talked about it the way they really needed to, in order to be able to go on with their lives.

"Kim, I've forgiven you. Do you really want to talk about it?" Tommy offered, knowing that this was the only thing that could keep them from becoming what they had once been.

"If you'll let me," Kim said, looking at her feet, before she decided to stand.

"I will," Tommy said, turning his full attention to the little woman, now standing in front of him. "Do you want to sit down?"

"No, because I'm going to be mad at myself, so it's best I be able to pace around," Kim said and immediately started pacing in front of him. "When I wrote that letter, all of my friends on the Pan Global team thought I was crazy for breaking up with you and I didn't realize it at first, until I was injured. The daily training had kept my mind off of what I had done, but after I broke my wrist, I had a few weeks to think about everything. My friends knew that I had been crying myself to sleep every night, but they didn't know that it wasn't because of homesickness. I told them that so they wouldn't try to make me come talk to you. Well after I was injured I really started missing home, a lot and I started missing you as well, but I wouldn't admit that to anyone. That was when I called Jason and we decided to go on a trip to Angel Grove. Well, you know what happened on that trip and I know what I did to you, especially after talking to Adam and some of the others. It was then that I realized how much I messed up and that was when I told him the truth about the letter. I wasn't expecting him to keep it a secret, but he did, I guess he knew that you didn't need to know unless you had to see me. I started to grieve, for what I had caused, for what I had forced myself to lose. I took it for granted and I knew that I was paying for my screw up, but my pride got in the way, so I didn't come ask for forgiveness. That was when I really tried to get away, but Jason and Trini kept pulling me back and even showed up for surprise visits a few times. It wasn't just you I hurt; I hurt all of the rangers. I'm sorry I did this, but I don't know how to forgive myself when you took this so easily."

"Well, I wouldn't say it was easy for me either. It was actually similar to having someone take away my powers and stab me in the heart at the same time," Tommy said, his voice cracking with emotion. He knew he was making her feel horrible, but it was better to get all of this out now, instead of waiting until later.

"How did you forgive me?" Kim asked, looking into Tommy's eyes and seeing all the hurt shine through. He might have been able to forgive, but he was still not able to forget what she had done.

"How couldn't I?" Tommy asked, with a small smile. "After Kat broke up with me and told me that I need to get my ass in gear and go talk to you, was when I figured out how much I loved you, because it didn't hurt to be away from her, like it did you. I didn't want to come and beg you to take me back, for all I knew you were happy. Jason wouldn't tell me anything about how you were, so I assumed he was doing it to protect me. It's obvious now that he wasn't."

"Tommy, I don't deserve you. I don't deserve to be forgiven, I can barely forgive myself, how were you able to do that?" Kim said, breaking down in tears.

"Because I love you and I know you feel the same way. Why wouldn't I forgive you?" Tommy asked, standing up to stop her pacing. "You are the one that makes me happy and you do deserve to get what you want."

"No, I don't Tommy… I just don't," Kim said, shaking her head, as Tommy enveloped her in a strong hug.

"Why don't you? Why can't you let yourself be happy?" Tommy asked, stroking her hair with one of his hands. He could feel her shaking as the sobs came out of her body, it hurt him to have to see her in pain like this, but all he could do was let her tell him everything.

"I just don't," Kim said, as she let herself continue to cry about the injustice she had committed between the two of them.

"That's not good enough for me," Tommy said and looked up to see Jason was standing at the edge of the room, he also was becoming aware of the spot on his shirt where the tears were soaking through.

"I hurt you," Kim managed to choke out. "I took your heart and tapped danced on it before shoving it back inside of you."

"I don't think tap dancing would have hurt this bad," Tommy said and laughed, as Kim looked up at him with a reproachful glare. She still had the same emotions running through her that had made her so adorable all those years ago. "And just because you hurt me, does not mean that you do not deserve me."

"But how will I get over what I did?" Kim asked, as Tommy let his hand travel to cup her cheek.

"Am I over it?" Tommy asked, and Kim shook her head slightly.

"Yes, but how do I get over it?" Kim asked, as he smiled a smile that made her heart melt.

"Let it go," Tommy said and then gave her a quick peck on the cheek.

"Aw, how sweet," Jason said, as he felt someone trying to move him out of the way so that they could see.

"Jason, there is no need for that," Tommy said, but had to admit he enjoyed the feeling of holding Kim tight and knowing that this wasn't a dream.

"When are we going to go see the school?" Trini asked, as she sat down on a couch. She had not been able to see what was going on, but was sure Jason would fill her in later, if she ever got the nerve up to talk to him again.

"Let the others sleep in and I'll go into town and pick up some breakfast," Tommy said and then jogged upstairs. He did not want to have to face Jason just yet about what he had planned.

"What was all of that about?" Jason asked, flopping down on the empty couch.

"We talked about my problem," Kim said and Trini chuckled. "It's not funny, Trini."

"Of course, but I know a lot of other stuff he would rather talk about," Jason said, as he was able to subside his laughter for long enough to respond.

Meanwhile, Tommy had hopped in the shower and was thinking about everything that had been said. He had expected to talk about this in depth, but was surprised that he was not emotionally drained, from everything. Kim had seemed to take the brunt this time, but he was now worried about his plans going off without a hitch. Jason would be able to distract Kim, but all of the others would have to keep their mouths closed, somehow.

"Tommy?" Kim asked, sneaking into his room and she heard the water was still running. She then continued further into the room to look for his car keys, as she had not seen them downstairs.

"If only I can…" Tommy said to himself.

"Where does he put his keys?" Kim wondered out loud. She didn't mind Trini and Jason seeing her in Tommy's clothes, but she didn't want the others to joke on the two of them for the rest of the day. She continued searching his room, in hope of finding the missing car keys and her concentration was so that she didn't hear the water turn off.

"What are looking for?" Tommy asked, as Kim jumped. She was only one drawer away from where Tommy had hidden the box and he was glad that she hadn't opened it yet. If she had, the surprise would have been ruined and he didn't want that to happen.

"Your keys," Kim said, after regaining her composure, as he was physically clutching the towel closer to him. "I need to change clothes."

"Why? Those look fine," Tommy said, smiling at her in his oversized shirt and boxers. Even though it wasn't the most flattering on her, he loved it no matter what.

"I don't want to have to deal with jokes all day," Kim said noticing Tommy was wearing only a towel and found herself blushing profusely, as her brain truly realized it.

"Go get your clothes and come with me into town," Tommy said, pulling out the next drawer quickly and handing her the keys.

"Alright," Kim said grabbing the keys and running downstairs. Tommy then went to his closet to find something appropriate to wear for the day. After a few seconds, he decided on a pair of jeans and a white fitted shirt, it had been a while since he had worn white, but he figured it couldn't hurt any now.

"Why are you wearing Tommy's clothes?" Zack asked, as Kim walked inside with her duffel bag in tow. He had just settled himself down on the couch when she walked in and she silently cursed that she had not been able to get Tommy's keys faster.

"I didn't have any other clothes last night," Kim said, turning red, before running up the stairs again.

"Sure," Zack said sarcastically, as the three of them laughed while watching Kim try to keep the boxers from falling off.

"How long?" Trini asked, looking over at Jason and Zack. They obviously knew something that she didn't and they were bursting with the secret.

"Not long," Jason said, with a smile as he looked over at Trini. "But it's our job to keep it a secret."

"Of course, so has he gone to the jewelry store yet?" Trini asked.

"Yeah," Zack said, Jason had filled him in on everything after they had gotten away from Tommy the night before. "What are you planning for the ball?"

"We have to see what we're working with first," Trini said, "but I think Kim has an idea already, which is scary."

"Her ideas are usually good," Jason said, throwing a confused glance towards Trini. "Why would it be scary?"

"They are usually complicated and take a lot of work and I don't know how much we can throw into this," Trini said.

"Oh," Zack said, as Tommy and Kim walked down the stairs, hand in hand. "Where are you going?"

"To get breakfast for all of you," Tommy said, picking up his keys.

"Have fun," Jason said, with a smirk as he heard the door close behind the two of them.

_Kim's POV_

The ride into Reefside was held in comfortable silence between Tommy and me. He seemed to have a lot on his mind and he kept throwing curious glances my way. Before I had the chance to ask him what was on his mind, he picked up a subject out of thin air.

"Are you really going to stay in California?" Tommy blurted out and then blushed while Kim giggled at their fearless leaders red face, if only the others could see him now. They would not believe that he was embarrassed to ask that question.

"Yes, unless you don't want me to," Kim said, grabbing one of Tommy's hands and giving it a gentle squeeze. "I was wondering if you'd let me open up a gymnastics academy in conjunction with the dojo you and Rocky own."

"Kim, I'd let you take over the dojo and turn it into a gymnastics academy any time you want to," Tommy said, looking over at her before turning his eyes back to the road. "While I get my PhD, Rocky will need all the help he can get. We're pretty busy as is and I'm sure he'll love me being away."

"Do you think you could convince Jason to move here and help with the dojo?" Kim asked.

"Only if Trini would come, you know that. He's got it bad, Kim," Tommy said, making Jason's love seem like some infectious disease. "I couldn't imagine hiding this for almost ten years."

"Well, you spent five years doing just that," Kim said, with a weak smile. There was always going to be the years they wasted standing in their minds, no matter what anyone else said; it would stay there for a long time.

"No, it wasn't hidden. It was known by everyone but you," Tommy said, causing Kim to take in a quick breath. "So what else do you want to do after all of this has settled down?"

"Lots of things," Kim said, tilting her head back to examine the roof of the car and to also avoid looking Tommy in the eyes. She didn't want to see him look surprised or disagree with anything that was going on in her mind. "Settle down, get married, have children, be happy again. How about you?"

"A lot of the same things you said, except I know who I want to do all of this with," Tommy said, as they reached the Reefside Hardees.

"Who's that?" Kim asked, innocently, as she stepped out of Tommy's jeep.

"You know who I mean, Kim. There's no need to act like you don't," Tommy said, with the seriousness evident in his voice.

"Well, if you're ready, then I am," Kim said, as Tommy opened the door for her.

"I am," Tommy said, as they joined the line that was snaking from the register to the door. "We are in for a long wait."

---------------------

"She was in Tommy's clothes?" Hayley asked, in utter disbelief, as the others rolled on the floor with laughter at her reaction to the story they had told her. She had come back out, to help with some of the work that they were going to be doing. After a few minutes, Billy made himself stopping laughing long enough to explain to Hayley some of the questions he was sure were bouncing around in her head.

"Yes," Billy said, putting an arm around Hayley and then removing it just as quickly. He wasn't sure if he was ready for this, not after breaking up with Trini only the day before. "Don't worry, though. Tommy slept on the couch last night."

"Thank goodness," Hayley said, as the laughter began to subside. Hayley had only half-heard the conversation, before making her sudden exclamation, but it seemed obvious what Kim's attire had been earlier that morning. "What's going to happen next, Billy?"

"With what?" Billy asked, looking down at Hayley and then across the room to Trini who seemed quite amused with his actions. He knew that he wasn't good at hiding how he felt and was finding it particularly hard to do so at the moment.

When Hayley had been at Stanford, she and Billy dated some, but decided to break it off when she had to leave. In Billy's mind, there wasn't a day gone by that did not have a 'what might have been' question pop up. When he had seen her last night, all of those buried feelings rose to the surface and they were now fighting to take over his rational side. He highly doubted that he would be able to hold that side back much longer, but continued to fight it as long as his friends were around.

"Tommy and Kim," Hayley said, eyeing him suspiciously. "I could guess, but I don't want to make the wrong assumption."

"He is going to ask her to marry him at the charity event we will, hopefully, be holding at the high school," Billy said, with a good-natured smile. "But you can't tell anyone."

"Oh, so all of you know about it," Hayley said as they heard the front door open and the subject was pushed aside for the time being.

"Yeah," Billy said, as the other nodded in agreement. Tommy and Kim then walked in, laden down with biscuits, coffee, and orange juice.

"Get whatever you want," Tommy said, sitting the bag on the coffee table and then taking the coffee and such out of Kim's hands. The Hardees line had moved at a snail's pace, so it took them over thirty minutes to place the huge order and even longer to receive their breakfast. The trip home seemed short compared to the wait they had just endured.

"Hardees? Tommy, you have sunk to a new low," Hayley joked. She knew her friend's culinary skills and knew that he had survived on Hardees breakfasts in college and still did the same before going to school most mornings.

"No, he wasn't the one that did that. That was Kim, I've never seen her dressed like that before," Zack joked, as Kim glared at him with a look that made him think flames would appear at his feet if someone did not distract her soon.

"He's just joking," Jason said, pulling his 'little sister' into a bear hug. "Calm down."

"You told everyone, didn't you?" Kim asked, as Tommy noticed that many of the other rangers were trying to hide giggles.

"Yeah, sorry, but it was just too good to keep a secret," Zack said, as Kim launched a stack of napkins towards him.

"Zack!" Kim yelled, as Tommy put an arm around Kim to keep her from running after the, already scurrying, black ranger.

"Don't worry about it," Tommy said, guiding Kim away from anything else that could be used as ammunition. "They won't say anything too bad."

"Sure," Kim said, calming herself down before they went back to sit with the others.

"So, after we finish eating do you want to go to the school and talk to the principal about all of this?" Jason asked, opening up a bacon, egg, and cheese and an orange juice. He had become a Hardees regular as well and was glad that Tommy had remembered to get enough food for Rocky and him.

"Yeah, we have a lot of planning to do," Kim said, enjoying her plain biscuit and coffee.

"What do you have in mind?" Kat asked, as most of the others had gone silent from feeding their faces.

"Well, I have to see the gym first, but I imagine bringing in some long, white tables that will be set up on the perimeter of the gym. If the floor isn't too ugly, then I'd like to not put any tarps down and leave the majority of the center of the floor for dancing. If we were to charge, say five dollars a couple, we'd be able to raise a nice amount of money for the charity," Kim said. "But I don't think I can explain the rest of it without drawing a picture."

"Start drawing," Trini said, grabbing some paper and a pencil off of Tommy's desk. "I want to know the mess that you are getting all of us into."

Kim began drawing a detailed sketch, as Trini, Aisha, Kat, and Hayley looked on. The boys began to clean up, as they saw the plans were becoming more intricate, which meant a lot more work for them.

"Oh good grief," Adam said, looking at the sketch that had been left on the coffee table. The girls had gone upstairs to change out of their pajamas into some decent clothes. "What have we got ourselves into?"

"Crap," Tommy said, looking over Adam's shoulder to see the drawing.

"Looks like you'll work your ass off before you get the chance to propose," Jason said and laughed.

"So will you if you don't step on it," Tommy said, as all of the others stared at Jason, who was blushing for what seemed like the first time in his life.

"Jason, you won't hurt me," Billy said, knowing about the whole situation, although neither had talked to him about it. "I'm working on moving on."

"Yeah," Tommy said, thinking of how Billy had been watching Hayley. Tommy had made his way over to his desk and picked up a pair of glasses. "Hayley's single, by the way."

"You have glasses?" Kim asked, as Tommy had slipped them on to further examine her sketch.

"Yeah and you plan to do all of this?" Tommy asked, turning the paper towards her.

"Yes, with some help," Kim said, looking at all of the boys, who seemed to be very worried. The last time they had put together a charity with her, they had wound up with bruises, cuts, and sore muscles. It was no wonder why they were apprehensive this time.

"How much is some?" Rocky asked, looking down at Kim with the most serious expression he could muster.

"A lot," Kim said, biting her lower lip. "But, I love all of you, so you will help, right?"

"Of course," Jason said with a smile, as the other girls began to come back downstairs. He couldn't help but notice that Trini was wearing an old jacket that he had given her for a birthday, some years before and he felt his heartbeat quicken.

"You ready to go?" Tommy asked, after locating his keys on the coffee table.

"Yeah, we're ready," Hayley said, as she came down the stairs. "Does anyone want to make it less crowded by riding with me?"

"Billy, why don't you go?" Kim said with a bright smile, as the others nodded in agreement. Billy may not have told the others, but they had been able to figure it out by his, not so subtle, actions.

"Alright," Billy said, nervously glancing at Hayley. He couldn't help but feel butterflies when he looked at her. He had not felt like that about Trini, even though he had never noticed until Jason came back into the picture, then it all became obvious.

"Don't worry, Billy. I don't bite," Hayley said, offering him a comforting smile before climbing into the driver's seat.

"I know," Billy said with a shy smile and climbed into the passenger's seat.

"Good going," Jason remarked to Kim.

"Any time Jason," Kim said, as she hopped into Tommy's jeep.

"So," Trini said, noticing that Jason had been having a hard time pulling his eyes away from her, for what reason, was beyond her.

"Oh, sorry," Jason said, suddenly embarrassed by his actions. "Come on, we better get going. I don't know my way out of this forest as well as those two."

"Okay," Trini said and got into Jason's car.

They then drove for the next twenty-five minutes, in silence. Neither knew what to say, which made it hard to fill the air, but by the time they had reached the school it seemed that the nervousness had only increased between the two friends.

AN: I know that this one took me **forever** to get out and I'm sorry for the delay. Please feel free to review and if someone could give me a description of what Reefside High looks like, I'd appreciate it. I don't want to go too far off base with my description. Thanks for reading and feel free to review!


	18. Buying Materials

Disclaimer: I do not own the Power Rangers. I do own the characters Nicarni-Aso, Zefoid, the asoriods, the amephors, Mrs. Alison Sipper, Tanya Sipper, Principal Randy Strigner, Ms. Fanny Abbott, and the planets Asoriotan and Nonatasion. I also own the armor flexor, invisashield, and any other weapons that you have never heard used on the Power Ranger series.

**Daisyz:** Thanks so much for the review!

**Brent87:** Thank you for reviewing!

**jedi4jesus19:** Thanks so much for the review!

**Warstock-Leonhart:** Thanks for the review and I'm gonna stick with what I have in the story right now and let Tommy tell her after he has received his PhD and is in possession of the Dino crystals.

**Dreadbomb4527:** Thanks for the review and I'll tune into the episodes sometime, but my description will probably be way off base, but oh well.

**Ghostwriter:** Thanks for the help and Principal Randall will make her appearance after Principal Strigner retires, which means she will basically appear in the next story, along with Mesogogg and his gang.

**Slshadowfox:** I haven't really thought about whom I will bring in for Rocky, but there is going to be someone, eventually. I know I'm a bad person for not having him someone already, but I'm not sure if I want to create a character or bring in another old character. Thanks so much for the review!

Now, on with the story!

"This is it," Tommy announced as he pulled his jeep into the teacher's parking lot and into his normal parking spot. Before he got out of his car, he looked at his friends beside him and remembered the last time they had all gone to a school together. That day was the beginning of the Power Rangers being torn apart,they were never the same once Trini, Jason, and Zack left. Aisha, Rocky, and Adam were great replacements, but there was still a huge difference between all of them and then Kim left and all hell really did break loose.

_Billy's POV _

Reefside's campus reminded me more of a college, than any high school I have seen before. If I had known there were high schools that looked like this, I probably would have tried to convince my parents to move here, but oh well, if I had done that then I wouldn't have been a Power Ranger.

The mammoth buildings seemed unfit to be placed upon the plush green lawns. There is an open air space, in the center of the buildings that had several picnic tables, supposedly for the students to eat lunch at, but they were being used for garbage can storage at the moment. The main building was adorned with a welcome sign and gigantic oak doors, unlike the rest of the buildings, which had been upgraded to metal doors. As we entered this building, the dull thud of our shoes echoed through the empty hallway. All of the classrooms, abandoned for the summer, stood there empty in a building that usually contained so much life. The principal's office, was the only room alive with light, among this place that has doomed many high schoolers in its history.

"Mr. Oliver, what a surprise to see you here. How has your summer been?" Principal Randy Strigner asked, looking up from his work when the office door creaked open.

He was a man in his mid-fifties and had a receding hairline and a growing middle, but a welcoming smile none the less. His experience in education began thirty-three years before and he was looking forward to retiring to lazy mornings and planting gardens in a few years. He wore a charcoal gray suit, and having chosen to leave his jacket on the back of his chair, revealed a long sleeved navy blue shirt, with red suspenders lying over it. Although it was not a school day, he still dressed himself as if over a thousand students would be seeing him throughout the day, which was something Tommy did respect in him.

"It's been alright, I've been busy with a lot of stuff in Angel Grove," Tommy said, motioning to Jason and Kim to follow him into the office. They had been waiting right behind him as Tommy had opened the door and he thought it best to leave the others outside for fear of bombarding Principal Strigner, which would not help their cause any.

"Sounds like fun. Some friends of yours, I presume?" Principal Strigner asked, as a young man and woman now flanked his employee. From the look on Tommy's face he could tell there was much more to his story of how he had been spending his summer vacation, but decided it best to not push him into a confession, now. There would always be time for that later or so he hoped.

"Yes, this is Kimberly Hart and Jason Scott, we went to high school together," Tommy said, as he watched his employer give them a critical stare before standing up to greet them.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Randy Strigner," Principal Strigner said, walking around to the front of his desk. He was still a tall man, at 6'2", even though he had lost some of his height over the last few years.

"Nice to meet you too," Kim said with a smile, and then cast her gaze back towards her feet. She was not as good at pitching ideas to total strangers as she used to be and hoped that Tommy would be able to fly solo for a little while. It wasn't that she didn't like Mr. Strigner, but she was not comfortable talking just yet.

"So what can I owe this visit to, Mr. Oliver?" Principal Strigner asked seating himself on the front of his desk.

"A charity," Tommy stated nervously.

"What are you wanting to do for this charity, Mr. Oliver?" Principal Strigner asked with a smile on his face. Ernie had called him a few days ago and told him that one of his employees was going to be asking to hold a charity event at the school.

Tommy Oliver was a good teacher, but he had never expected it to be him to come and ask. He had only started teaching here last year and was planning to leave at the end of first semester to get his PhD. It didn't bother him that Mr. Oliver was leaving, having already found a replacement, but it did bother him that by the time he came back, there would probably be a new principal. The young man showed so much promise and he did regret that he would not be here to see how his abilities would improve as the years ticked by.

"We were wondering if we could hold a charity ball for Child Haven," Tommy said, as Kim and Jason seemed to think it best to give him silent support. He had never been too fond of talking for a great length of time in public, but teaching had changed that, a little bit.

"A charity ball? Here?" Principal Strigner asked, skeptically. Ernie had mentioned a charity event, but a ball did seem to be a big project to pull off, even by Ernie's standards. Of course, he had never seen their work before and he trusted Ernie's judgement, to an extent. "What would this involve?"

"Well, the gym would have to be closed to the school for a few days prior to the event and I don't know if this will help, but here's a sketch of what we were planning to do," Kim said, taking her sketch out of the folder she haphazardly thrown it in minutes before. She watched as Principal Strigner gave the sketch a critical review and then looked at the three adults as if they had lost their minds. Kim knew it looked like a lot of work, but she had pulled off much more extravagant with less time and less help.

"You plan to do all of this and not cost the school a thing?" Principal Strigner asked, although he knew all to well where the money source was coming from.

"Yes sir," Kim said, confidently.

"And when do you plan to do this?" Principal Strigner asked, as he watched the anxious group look at him.

"Two, three weeks into the school year," Kim said. "That will all depend on how easily we can find the supplies."

"Well, I think we can do that," Principal Strigner said, walking over to the calendar and checking both weeks for any possible problems. "Which week would be better?"

"The third week, that way it can be advertised," Kim said. "Hopefully we can get a good turn out."

"Friday the seventh sound good?" Principal Strigner asked, with a bright smile.

"Yes, thank you so much," Kim said and then gave Principal Strigner a tight hug, before retreating to stand next to a confused Mr. Oliver. Tommy had seemed to forget Kim's spurts of happiness, but quickly smiled, as she put an arm around him.

"Your welcome, but I do have one question. Who will be helping you do all of this? I know that the three of you will not be able to do this alone," Principal Strigner said, recovering from his shock. Ms. Hart was a bundle of energy and hecouldn't help but wonder how someone like Mr. Oliver wound up with Ms. Hart, although it was obvious she was very happy with Mr. Oliver.

"They will," Jason said, pushing open the door with one hand, while keeping the other firmly behind his back. This action revealed the rest of the work force that would be pulling off this charity event to Principal Strigner.

"So, you are Ernie's friends?" Principal Strigner asked, as they looked at him in shock. It was very clear that they were all wondering how he knew him, but he waited for one of them to ask him directly.

"How do you know Ernie?" Zack asked, as they all peered at the principal, with expressions of curiousity on their faces.

"We've been friends for a long time," Principal Strigner said with a smile. "And he speaks very highly of all of you, seems to think your superheroes or something. Any way, he was confident that you could pull off something like this and I hope he is right."

"Thank you, Principal Strigner, but we really need to get going," Kim said, taking hold of Tommy's hand and starting to drag him out of the office. She was uncomfortable to stay there any longer knowing that he might guess that Ernie wasn't too far off base, eventually, if they only gave him long enough to and as far as she knew Hayley did not have a clue about all of them either. "We have a lot of work to do."

"Thank you," Jason said, as he started to exit the room, having the same feelings as Kim. He may have been joking, but this was not something to joke about, not now at least.

"Your welcome," Principal Strigner said, "And tell Tommy good luck."

"Yes sir," Jason said, confused by what had been said to him. How could he have figured out that Tommy was interested in Kim by just spending a few minutes with them?

"Can you slow down some?" Tommy asked, hearing the others running to keep up with them and they still were lagging behind a good bit.

"No, we have so much work to do, Tommy," Kim said, as she continued flying down the hall. "I need you to go to Lowe's and pick up some things."

"We're splitting up?" Tommy asked, feeling mixed emotions about that. He knew that he did not want to go fabric shopping, but he also didn't know exactly what Kim would want for her grand idea.

"We have to, we only have six weeks to do all of this," Kim said, as the others finally caught up to them. They saw Kim looking up at Tommy, who seemed ready to argue about something and they got into earshot just in time to hear the next statement."I'll make you a list of what you need to pick up."

"You're getting lists already?" Rocky joked, although he did wish he could find someone, but knowing his friends they would try to set him up pretty soon, at least that is what he hoped they would do.

"Does any one have some paper and a pen?" Kim asked, as Hayley started fishing through her bag and came up with a legal pad and a pencil.

"Here you go," Hayley said, handing it over with a smile, no wonder Tommy had been crazy over her. The night before Hayley hadn't really gotten a chance to get to know Kim, but from Billy and some other people her idea was becoming much more clear. "She's training you good."

"No, I'm not," Kim said, looking up briefly from her scribbling. Tommy had always been a good boyfriend, even if he was a tad bit forgetful, she had never though about having to train him. He had always seemed to have a good idea of what to do and when to do it.

"No, she's right. I was trained a long time ago," Tommy joked, as Kim shot him a go to hell look. She then finished the list and handed it to a smiling Tommy, who then gave her a hug before looking at the list.

"How am I supposed to pay for all of this?" Tommy asked looking down at the list and back up at Kim. He knew that her plans were detailed, but he had not expected to have to pick up this much in one trip, ever.

"I don't know, Ernie said he would pay for everything," Kim said, truthfully.

"Mr. Oliver, I forgot to give you these," Principal Strigner said, holding up two credit cards. Tommy immediately stopped trying to figure out how much credit he had on his own and sighed a sigh of relief.

"Thank you," Tommy said, grateful he would not have to be paying out of his own pocket. If that had happened, they would have gotten maybe two of the items necessary, with him not knowing exactly how much a certain ring had cost earlier that week.

"Have fun and get some good decorations. The gym is open for you to use at any time," Principal Strigner said and turned to go back to the main building. He had given the rest of the office staff the last few weeks off, so it was best he did not leave the office that much, although it did feel like a jail sometimes. Times like these were when he honestly wondered why he went into education, but he always came up with the same answer, because he loved being around the kids.

"Thank you, Mr. Strigner," Kim said and they continued on their way to the faculty parking lot. The parking lot was across the small, one lane road, which kept it from taking away from the beauty of the campus. They were the only ones that had chosen this lovely, last day of July to visit the school. There were three weeks before school started and about six until they hosted the ball. "Tommy, could we possibly use your jeep?"

"Kim, I'd love to let you take my jeep, but six grown men, in Jason's truck, plus all of this," Tommy said, indicating the list he held in his hands. "I don't think it is going to happen."

"Alright," Kim said and stood on her tip toes to give him a kiss on the cheek. She then headed towards Hayley's car and waved a good-bye. "I'll see you when we get done."

"Okay," Tommy said, as he saw her climb in Hayley's car and leave. His hand was on his cheek and he couldn't help but day dream for a few seconds, before Jason brought him back to reality.

"Let's see that list," Jason said, as Tommy put it on the hood of his jeep.

Tommy,

I know you hate shopping, for anything, but I hope you can bear going to Lowe's to get these supplies for us. We'll start working later on this week, but most of this will have to be constructed at the school (sorry). Here's your list:

10 white tables seven feet long (they can be plastic,)  
3 circular tables (they will be covered)  
12 2"x4"  
4 sheets of plywood  
5 boxes of nails  
6 boxes of staples  
3 staple guns  
3 hammers  
1 circular saw (I know you don't have one)  
1 drill (look up one line for explanation)  
4 boxes of screws  
12 cans of grey primer  
12 cans of silver paint

I think you can handle this and you'll get to use the power tools while we're stuck doing sewing and such.

Love,  
Kim

"What have we gotten ourselves into?" Tommy wondered aloud, as they all exchanged worried glances.

The only one who seemed to actually be looking forward to this trip was Jason, who had always enjoyed woodworking, but even he did seem worried about what their work was going to actually be. The girls had been known to have some pretty crazy things up their sleeves and it scared them to think of what they had in mind this time.

"I don't know, but I'm glad we are not having to go to the craft goods store," Jason said, as the others nodded in agreement. "Lowe's beats that any day."

"Follow me," Tommy said hopping into his jeep, as Adam, Rocky, and Zack got in as well. They had decided earlier that if they ever got a chance to let Billy and Jason talk that they would, even if they didn't want to talk to each other just yet.

"They did that on purpose, didn't they?" Jason asked, as they had left Billy and he to go in his truck. He wasn't sure if he was ready for the conversation that would surely come out of this car ride.

"Affirmative," Billy said, with a shake of his head and a slight shrug. They wanted them to talk before Jason made a move on Trini and it seemed like a good idea, to them. Even Billy wanted to talk, considering everything that would happen, if Jason ever got up the nerve to ask Trini out. "They want to make sure I won't kill you."

"Well, will you?" Jason asked, as he pulled out of the parking lot and found himself only half focusing on what Tommy was doing. His friendship with Billy was almost as valuable to him as getting the chance to tell Trini the truth and that is saying a lot.

"No," Billy said, with a smile. "If you haven't noticed, I like Hayley, a lot Jason. I probably would have never seen her again if it wasn't for all of you and I would have never been happy with Trini, knowing how she feels."

"Yeah, well I would have never told anyone about Trini, but the aisle of deception decided to bring her into my fear," Jason said, looking slightly ashamed.

He had rarely talked about the mission that the fighting force had gone through, leaving Tommy and Kim to answer most of the questions. Now it made sense to Billy why Jason had refused to answer the questions. He was afraid he would say something that would let them know what else had happened, outside of the context of the actual mission.

"So that's why you wouldn't tell any of us about what happened to you?" Billy asked, as Jason simply nodded his head. He wasn't ready to tell anyone, not even Trini, what had happened in the aisle of deception a few days ago. "How long have you kept all of this a secret?"

"Almost ten years," Jason said with a sad sigh. If only he knew what Trini thought, it would make all of this much easier. He didn't care that Kim and Tommy, both assured him that she felt the same, he just wished that she would give him some sort of sign. Of course that did not look like it was going to happen anytime soon.

"Jason, you mean to tell me that all those times we were fighting beside each other and almost died, you felt this way?" Billy asked, shocked. He had been suspecting three, maybe four years tops, but a decade in which the first half they spent fighting to keep the world safe, was even absurd for Jason. It now made sense why he had been so protective of Trini, even if he wouldn't admit it, to anyone.

"Yeah," Jason said, he may have been their fearless leader, but asking one of his best friends to go on a date with him scared him shitless and the only person that seemed to understand that was Tommy, but even he was getting aggravated with Jason's waiting. At this point, Jason didn't even blame his friends for what was beginning to be said. He had caused it and now he was only hoping that he'd get the courage up to actually tell Trini.

"Do I even want to asked what went through your mind when they captured her?" Billy asked, cringing at the thought of how Jason must have felt keeping the anguish inside. He had at least been able to show his grief, but Jason had to try to keep it all inside, because then questions would have been asked. These questions wouldn't have been easy to answer, so it made a lot of sense to keep it a secret.

"Let's just say if it had been well known, I would have broken something and cried for about half a day. Then I would have wanted to kill Nicarni-Aso with my bare hands," Jason said, shaking his head to try to keep from reliving the feelings that were still right under the surface. "I still cried and I still wanted to do that, but no one else knew about it."

"I didn't know that," Billy said, although it didn't surprise him, since he had been going through the motions of being extremely upset about Trini, which he honestly was. "Why didn't you tell all of us?"

"You were still dating Trini, Billy. I couldn't. It wouldn't have been right," Jason said, as the pulled into the local Lowe's parking lot.

"You're right," Billy said and got out of the truck to begin their mission.

_Fanny's Fabric Store _

"Hayley, are you sure that this place will have what we need?" Kim asked, as Hayley took off her glasses and placed them in her carrying case. Although Hayley had said this was the best fabric story in town, Kim was still slightly apprehensive as it looked to be small.

"Ms. Fanny will, don't worry about that," Hayley said, as she saw Ms. Fanny Abbott approaching. The little widow had been in business for the past forty years.

She had moved from Alabama to California in her mid-twenties and within a year had opened a little fabric store, which had grown into the massive building that it occupied now, even if no one would have thought that from looking at the front. The front room was deceptively small, as it held only the bare essentials for almost any small sewing project. The real wealth of the store was hidden behind a door placed between the elastic and ribbons.

"Hayley, darlin', how are you doin'?" Ms. Fanny, as she insisted to be called, asked. Ms. Abbott made her feel too old and it did help, on the rare occasions, she would have to actually explain her strong Southern accent to someone. Some people just never seemed to get used to it and in her opinion that was someone who needed others to take pity on them.

"I'm doing fine Ms. Fanny, but we are going to need some help with a big project," Hayley said, hugging the woman. Ms. Fanny, had gray hair, but she pulled it back in a neat ponytail with little spectacles that sat on the end of her nose. She stood about 5' 3" at the most, but her personality could fill up a room. "She can fill you in on the details."

"Well, what's your name missy?" Ms. Fanny asked with a bright smile, singling out the petite woman dressed in pink, for some reason she looked very familiar. She just couldn't figure out where she came from or where she knew her from just yet, though.

"I'm Kimberly Hart, but call me Kim," Kim said, offering a hand and Ms. Fanny graciously shook it. She had never turned down someone, who offered this formality, although she did prefer giving someone a hug over a handshake any day.

"Well it's nice to meet you, but that name sounds so familiar for some reason," Ms. Fanny wondered out loud. She just knew someone had told her about a Kimberly Hart before, but she put that thought aside for a little while. Maybe her granddaughter would be able to jog her memory when she came out to help with the store. "Never mind that now, we have work to do. Do you need to see the full stock?"

"Yes ma'am," Kim said, as the others had scattered to pick up ribbons and other materials needed for their sewing project.

"Come with me," Ms. Fanny said and walked to the back of the stored and opened the bright blue door. Kim's eyes then widened with shock; the back of the store had bolts upon bolts of fabric in different colors and textures. She could have had her choice of any color, but immediately found herself drawn towards certain fabrics that would help create her vision most accurately.

"Ms. Fanny, all of this is so beautiful," Kim said as she marveled and started making her way towards one area.

"Thank you, darlin'," Ms. Fanny said as she watched Kim move over to the bolts of sheer fabric.

"How much is this a yard?" Kim asked, pulling out an arm length of sheer, baby blue fabric.

"It depends on how much you buy," Ms. Fanny said.

"Well, I don't exactly know. I am planning on lining some arbors with this, but I don't know the dimensions of the arbors, yet," Kim said, looking over in Ms. Fanny's direction.

"How 'bout we put that on hold for you and you just swing back by here once you know?" Ms. Fanny suggested.

"Can you do that for more than one fabric?" Kim asked, knowing she had her eyes on at least four more fabrics.

"As many as you need, sweetie," Fanny said and over the next thirty minutes or so, Kim selected five additional fabrics and before leaving the store, purchasing over forty yards of ribbon and such.

"Where to next?" Hayley asked, as their bounty was put in the trunk of her car.

"I don't know. I think a florist maybe, but I don't know," Kim said, running her hands through her hair. She had always loved shopping, but craft shopping was one of her least favorite types. "I need to call Tommy and add some things to his list."

"Here," Hayley said, passing Kim her cell phone.

"What's it under?" Kim asked, having not seen Tommy's name or anything she thought could possibly be him.

"Oh, it's under sexy beast," Hayley said, as Kim found the name and then cast a curious glance towards Hayley. She would have to explain this later, but right now, it didn't really matter.

"Tommy," Kim said, hearing Tommy's voice through the receiver.

"Kim, what are you calling for?" Tommy asked, as the boys came to a halt in their journey.

"I need to add something to your list," Kim said, as she heard a deep sigh echo through the receiver.

"What is it?" Tommy asked, as he pulled a pen out of his pocket.

"I need five steel arbors, if you don't know what that is, ask Billy or Jason. We have to get going, oh and also pick up about twenty more two by fours," Kim said.

"Alright," Tommy said, mentally adding thirty more minutes to their trip at Lowe's. "See you later."

"Okay, bye," Kim said and handed the phone back to Hayley. "Now, let's go on to the florist."

"We may not want to go there today," Hayley said.

"Why not?" Kim asked.

"He is never in a good mood when a bunch of women walk into his shop to pre-order flowers five weeks ahead of time. Let's visit him in about two weeks and then he will be able to get the flowers in just in time for the ball," Hayley said.

"Alright, I trust you on that one," Kim said and paused to think for a few second, "Since we don't need to go there, steer me towards the nearest craft goods store and then maybe we can go look for some clothes. You know that we are all going to have to buy new outfits, considering the fact none of us brought or own anything appropriate."

"Sounds good to me," Hayley said.

_Lowe's _

"Well, that is everything on the list," Tommy said, looking through the three carts one more time before heading to the check out counter.

"Good," Jason said, eagerly.

"Why, you got a hot date planned, Jason?" Zack joked, as the others laughed at Jason's expense.

"It's not as easy as all of you make it seem," Jason said, with enough bitterness to stop the laughter. "What if she doesn't feel the same?"

"Jason, I'm asking some one to marry me in a few weeks and you know what, I'm worried about it," Tommy said, moving the boxes of screws onto the check-out counter, "but I can't go on without her and if you feel the same, it will only be a matter of time before you can't help but tell her."

"How do I tell her?" Jason asked and they all swiveled their heads towards Billy.

"Well, how about the two of you go out somewhere tonight," Billy suggested. He knew there was no way Jason would tell Trini in front of them, absolutely no way in hell.

"I don't want her to think something is up," Jason said, as the Lowe's employee looked at him as if he was a little crazy, but he did seem that way. He was pacing and pulling at his hair, while the others watched on, very amused by Jason's actions.

"If you can wait six weeks, you can tell her at the dance Jason," Adam said. "But I, personally wouldn't wait that long. A lot of things can change in six weeks and if something does, don't you want to know that everything was out in the open."

"I'll wait until the dance," Jason said. "I don't have much of a choice, if I want to do this my way."

That day they did all of the shopping and then the madness began. The next five weeks was a flurry of building sewing, stapling, and such. The week of the dance finally came and the whole school was about as excited as the rangers were about the dance.

AN: I know this chapter took a long time to get out, but I got a small case of writer's block. Feel free to review and I hope that you enjoyed it!


	19. Old Friends and New Clothes

Disclaimer: I do not own the Power Rangers. I do own the characters Nicarni-Aso, Zefoid, the asoriods, the amephors, Mrs. Alison Sipper, Tanya Sipper, Principal Randy Strigner, Ms. Fanny Abbott, Ally Jameson, and the planets Asoriotan and Nonatasion. I also own the armor flexor, invisashield, and any other weapons that you have never heard used on the Power Ranger series.

**Ultimate Hero:** Thank you for the review and I have gone back and tried to improve some of my first chapters, but I couldn't really think of another way to get Kim and Tommy back together, sorry. I hope that you think it develops into a better pairing when you read the rest of it.

**Daisyz:** Thanks for the review and I'm glad that you enjoyed those little details.

**Babe:** It will be continued, for at least two of three more chapters and there won't be too many chapters until Trini hears the words from Jason's mouth. (Finally!)

**Ghostwriter:** Thank you for the review!

**Slshadowfox:** Thanks and I'm glad that you are finding some of this funny.

**jedi4jesus19:** Thanks so much for the review!

Now, on with the story!

"Rocky, would you mind coming with me to pick up some more fabric?" Kim asked, not being able to find any of the other guys, as they had all been trying to stay out of her war path, even Tommy was at this point.

They had begun assembling the decorations for the gym and this first day was about to drive Kim, and all of the others, crazy. She was almost glad for her fabric miscalculation, as it gave her an excuse to leave and recompose herself, before having to return to the controlled insanity.

"Sure," Rocky said, feeling relief at being able to leave. He had always heard about Kim's elaborate plans, but had never been involved in one, until now. It was more than obvious that they would have to pull a full days work, everyday, until the night of the ball in order to get everything done. That was alright, as far as he was concerned, it kept his mind off of other things that were bothering him, namely, his rather lackluster love life.

It hadn't exactly come to his mind exactly how bad it was until he saw all his friends. They were happy and were finding people to spend the rest of their lives with. He was firmly avoiding any contact with women, except the rangers that he saw so often. He wanted a relationship, but he wasn't ready to make the leap and he didn't know when he would be ready.

"How have you been doing, Rocky?" Kim asked, picking up Tommy's keys and heading towards the faculty parking lot.

It was only eleven o'clock and Kim was hoping to end at three today, so she could do some last minute shopping, for a dress. Yes, Kim had always loved to shop, but this was one thing she had put off, mainly because she had no clue what she wanted. She knew that she wanted it to knock Tommy's socks off, but at this point, she thought that would be impossible to find with the amount of time she had left unless she pulled something drastic this afternoon.

"I've been better," Rocky said, glumly hopping into the jeep, as Kim adjusted the drivers seat to fit her much shorter frame.

Over the last five weeks, he had become more depressed and Kim was not the only one who had noticed. They all did, and they were all worried about their usually chipper friend acting like this, but none of their attempts to cheer him seemed to work. They also hadn't been able to get anything out of him as to why he was acting like this, but Kim didn't see what the harm would be in asking one more time.

"Well, what's been bothering you?" Kim asked, looking over at her friend and then pulled out of the parking lot, into the narrow one lane road.

"I don't have anyone," Rocky stated simply, keeping his eyes situated on the scenery outside his window. He didn't want to look at anyone, all he wanted to do was continue to let this depression go on and it would eventually pass, like it always did and he could blame it on his powers starting to go away if anyone really wanted something to shut them up. They all were feeling the effects of having the powers taken away now.

"Rocky, you have all of us. I don't understand why you think you don't have anyone. You're not alone Rocky," Kim said and all she could think was that Jason and Tommy were right when they had talked about what had been bothering Rocky. Of course, the two of them had plenty of experience in this area, not that they were very willing to admit that to just anyone.

"That's not what bothers me, all of you have someone special. I don't," Rocky said, looking over to see Kim staring at him for a moment before making herself look back at the road.

'_Wow, Rocky. I didn't know, none of us did,' Kim thought._

She was surprised that he hadn't told Adam about how he had been feeling, but guys weren't always the most receptive to hearing something this emotionally charged. Kim wasn't even sure that she was going to be able to give him good advice, what with everything she had caused in the past.

"Don't kill me for asking, but what happened between you and Tanya?" Kim asked.

When Jason had been the Gold Ranger, the two of them had been almost inseparable and Kim had just assumed that they were still close. Tanya didn't show up when they came back to Angel Grove, so that was the first sign that something had changed, but no one seemed to know the story of what had happened, not even Adam.

"College and James happened," Rocky said, with a forced smile on his face.

What else could he say? That when he was no longer able to be a Power Ranger that he changed more than anyone could possibly know? That being a Power Ranger became his life?

No, there was nothing to say other than the most obvious; she had met James Barfield. Rocky could honestly say he didn't hold anything against either, because they still talked, every once in awhile and he still wasn't sure about what he had felt for her. He had never been as upset as Tommy when they broke up.

"Who's James?" Kim asked, trying to think if she should know this person, but she had never heard of this person before. But she wouldn't be surprised if he was Rocky's best friend, for all she knew. She hadn't kept in touch, so she had to catch up with everyone, not just Tommy.

"He's a guy she met during college," Rocky simply stated, not wanting to go into great detail about the man. It wasn't that James was cruel or anything, but it just brought up too many bad memories for him. "By then we were on the rocks, anyway. We mutually agreed it was best to break up, we're still friends, but you always have the 'what might have been' scenarios playing in your mind."

"Yeah you do," Kim said and sighed. She had experienced her fair share of 'what might have been' type daydreams, but she had been able to keep most of them out of her mind, lately.

Regret is an evil problem to have to live with and she knew she would have rather stayed with the rangers than gone through the regret of breaking up with Tommy. The Pan Globals had not been worth losing the power and her trust in her love; nothing was worth losing all of that.

"But you don't anymore," Rocky said, rather pointedly. She had gotten Tommy back, but he knew that he would never get Tanya back. She loved James and there was nothing he could do about that. "How do you get over someone who makes you feel complete? I've been on some dates, but no one makes me feel the same and I don't know if anyone ever will."

"Well, when you find the right person, you'll just know Rocky. That's the way it is," Kim said, knowing how it felt to compare everyone you date to one person. It was definitely frustrating, but it seemed like Tanya had moved on and Rocky would do the same, eventually. The thing question is, when would he be ready to truly move on and how long would it take him to do that?

"Yeah, that's what everyone has said and it still hasn't happened yet," Rocky said, as they pulled into a parking space in front of Fanny Abbott's store. He had talked with Tommy and Adam, but neither could give him much more advice than what she had just said. He just wanted to give up and not worry about love anymore, but he couldn't do that, something deep inside of him kept him looking for that special someone.

"Well, it's the only advice we can give you and love comes when you least expect it," Kim said, as she opened the door to Ms. Fanny's shop and saw someone she hadn't seen in years.

Behind the cash register, stood a petite redhead, but unlike Hayley, her hair was cut short and flipped at the ends, while her blue eyes sparkled as she noticed the new customers. She was wearing an old, lime green, gymnastics T-shirt and a pair of blue jean capris, with a pair of flip-flops. Ally Jameson, known as A.J. or Ally Mae, had been a member of the Pan Global team with Kim and had now decided to move in with her grandmother.

"Kim?" Ally asked, upon seeing her old teammate walk into her grandmother's store.

Kim hadn't changed much since the Pan Global's, but something seemed different, besides her not wearing make up and she couldn't quite put her finger on what it was. It almost seemed that her eyes shined with everything that was happening, something Ally hadn't seen since the beginning of their training, when she had been dating Tommy or whatever his name was.

"A.J., what are you doing here?" Kim asked, giving her a hug. Kim then looked over at Rocky, who seemed a little more dazed than he had been over the last few weeks. She then giggled when she figured out whom Rocky was staring at; maybe his luck was changing after all.

"I should be asking you the same question," Ally said, looking down at Kim. The last she had heard Kim had been teaching in Miami and was trying to get a grant to open a gymnastics academy, but obviously something or someone had made her return to California. She then remembered a boy named Tommy that Kim had been in love with and wondered if he had come with her, even though this man did not look anything like the boy in the pictures, although he did look vaguely familiar. "That's not Tommy, is it?"

"No, that's Rocky," Kim said as she watched the Ally's eyes sparkle to know that, maybe he was free after all. Ally had always been a bit on the reserved side, but it was fairly obvious that college had changed her a little bit. She would not have talked to Kim before or made her last remark, so Kim was glad that she finally felt comfortable enough to come out of her shell. "You'll get to meet Tommy later, that is if you are planning on staying here for awhile."

"I am, so what brings you to my Grandma's shop?" Ally asked, fiddling with a few strands of hair. It was always in her eyes, but she liked it this length, even if somedays she would kill to be able to pull it back in a ponytail. Today, happened to be one of those days.

"Fabric, well actually it's more like I didn't buy enough ribbon or fabric," Kim said, slightly embarrassed. She had always prided herself in her calculations, but this time her calculations had come well short of what she was actually going to need, but there was a first time for everything.

"Well, I'm sure Grandma would love to see you. She's in the back," Ally said and Kim then left Rocky and she alone. For a few moments, Rocky contemplated whether to follow Kim or stay put. He decided it would be best to stay put, as he was likely to get in the way and what would it hurt to get to know this new girl? "So, are you always this quiet?"

"No, usually I talk a lot more," Rocky said with a smile. He hadn't been able to take his eyes off of her and he was surprised that he didn't feel guilty, usually by now Tanya's face would pop into his head and he would stop paying attention to whoever he was looking at. Today his mind did not even seem to know that Tanya existed. At least when he was looking at Ally, it didn't have the slightest clue about Tanya, which was something he was not sure how he needed to take.

"So, how do you know Kim?" Ally asked, sitting on a stool. It had been a lazy day at the fabric store and she was glad to finally have someone to talk to, especially someone as nice looking as he was.

"We went to high school together," Rocky said and had to mentally restrain himself from saying anything else. They may no longer have the powers completely intact, but it was too soon to let anyone know who he really was.

Billy had not destroyed their powers, yet, but he had significantly weakened them. He had decided it would be best to keep them for a short time period, because who knew if someone else would show up and they didn't want to take any chances. From everything they had been told, they knew there was not another power source available and they would always need Power Rangers, unless the evil stopped attacking and that probably wouldn't happen.

"So, you were there when Tommy got the letter?" Ally asked and saw he looked shocked at her question. How did she know about that letter? From what he knew, the only ones that knew about it were the rangers and some gymnasts in Florida. "Sorry, I guess I should explain that we were on the Pan Global team together. I felt so sorry for both of them; it had to be hard on him. Before she got the idea that he might like someone else, all she would do is talk about him and some other people, but she rarely said their names. They all seemed to be such close friends, but after that letter, most of them wouldn't talk to her. I guess I would have done the same thing, but it really did hurt her a lot."

"None of us could risk it, Tommy was too upset. At least, you didn't have to spar against him," Rocky said with a shake of the head. Tommy had been vicious, getting out all of his frustrations on his sparing partner. It got so bad that at one time, Jason, Adam, Rocky, and Billy had to spar with him in shifts. They would risk injury if they sparred with him alone for too long and none of them could be injured with everything that was going on around them. "He about killed me and three of our other friends for about three months after it was sent. Then he settled down, but we still didn't mention her, it hurt him too much."

"So Tommy does martial arts?" Ally asked, having a light bulb click on in her head. One of the male gymnasts had been following Kim and she when they first started, then one day he attacked them. Why? She didn't know, but she knew that it scared her enough to not get any closer to him than the length of the gymnasium that they were forced to share. It now made sense why Kim had been able to do what she had done, even if some of it did seem to stem from somewhere other than martial arts, but she did not know where the other source could have come from and the ideas that she had gotten, were just too far fetched. "No wonder Kim was able to fight that guy off."

"What guy?" Rocky asked, confused.

Kim had never said anything about being attacked and that was probably a good thing. Tommy and Jason would have gone after the guy, no questions asked. Even now, it seemed like they would do that, so it made a lot of sense to leave that piece of her past, in the past.

"I've said too much. Sorry, but I really can't tell you until she does. It's her business, not mine," Ally said, quietly.

She was comfortable talking about it, but it didn't seem that Kim was. Of course, Ally had always thought that Kim had told Tommy before their breakup, but it was now obvious she hadn't told anyone. This made Ally wonder what Tommy would have done if he had known, because whatever it was probably would not have been pretty, not after how Rocky had described Tommy's sparring when angry.

"That's alright," Rocky said, with a reassuring smile. He was not sure that he really wanted to know about all of it right now, although he was sure he would eventually get it out of Kim. "So what really made you come to Reefside?"

"My gymnastics career ended and after going through college, I decided I wanted to come out here to work with my Grandma. I always loved California more than Florida, so why not move here?" Ally asked, offering another stool to Rocky. She had forgotten about it and was now feeling bad for not offering it any sooner.

"So you are going to stay out here?" Rocky asked, sitting down on the stool.

"Yes, I am planning on it, unless something unexpected happens," Ally said, as Kim and Ms. Fanny walked back into the front room, lugging a bolt of fabric between the two of them. They both seemed to not be paying attention to their conversation, but their entrance stopped it. Neither Rocky nor Ally felt comfortable continuing with either in the room.

"A.J., you want to come with us to the charity ball?" Kim asked, putting the bolt of fabric on the counter with a little help from Ms. Fanny. She had easily found more of the fabric, but Ms. Fanny and she had decided to watch Ally and Rocky for a few minutes before walking back into the store and they were happy with what they were seeing. "It would be fun and you'd get to meet some people from around here."

"A ball?" Ally asked, shocked. "But I don't have anything to wear."

"I don't either, at this point. How about I pick you up and we'll go shopping after all of the work gets done for today?" Kim asked, knowing she had neglected to buy any clothes and now had only four days to find the right dress for the occasion.

"Go, Ally Mae," Fanny said, using the nickname she had bestowed upon her granddaughter, many years ago. "You need to have some fun and maybe you'll find that person you've been talkin' 'bout."

"Alright, I'll go," Ally said, turning slightly red at her grandmother's insinuation. Rocky seemed to notice as well, but simply shrugged before giving her another smile, which she gladly accepted and then returned one of her own.

"I'll be here at about three. I don't think we'll all be able to take any more than that today," Kim said, turning to look at Rocky, who seemed to gone off into Rocky-land for a little while. "Rocky. Rocky, we gotta go."

"Oh," Rocky said, shaking himself back into reality and he then helped Kim pick up the bolt of fabric.

"See you later," Ally said with a smile.

"Yeah, I'd enjoy that," Rocky said, as Kim and Ms. Fanny exchanged a look, before Kim and Rocky disappeared out of the store.

"Now, Ally Mae, he seems to be nice enough," Ms. Fanny said, with a mischievous grin. She had noticed where her granddaughters eyes had traveled as the boy exited and thought it would be fun to let her know. "Nice butt, too."

"Grandma!" Ally exclaimed, slightly shocked by her grandmother's musings. Of course, her grandmother had always been to the point about almost any situation, even boys' butts, especially if she noticed Ally's actions.

"Don't say you weren't lookin', missy. I saw you with my own two eyes and I'm just statin' the obvious, you know that," Ms. Fanny said, pointing her index finger in Ally's face, with an amused smile. "While I'm statin' the obvious, I might as well tell you that he likes you, Ally Mae. You did pick up on that one, didn't you dear?"

"Sure, Grandma," Ally said, jokingly.

"Don't you 'sure Grandma' me. I saw the way he was lookin' at you, sweetie," Ms. Fanny said, gathering steam with each word that came from her mouth. "He likes you, a lot Ally."

"Grandma, I've only been here two days," Ally said, pleading for her to not push this anymore. She knew her grandmother was serious, as she was not using her nickname any longer. "I'm not sure I'm ready for something like this."

"Ally, don't try to confuse me with crap like that. You wished when you first met Kim that you had what she did and does have, this may be your chance and I don't want you to miss out on it, sweetie," Ms. Fanny said.

"So you don't mind me taking the rest of the day off?" Ally asked with a sheepish grin.

"Honey, you can have a week off if you promise you won't run away from this guy," Ms. Fanny said, giving Ally a tight hug. She was her oldest grandchild and Ms. Fanny was hoping that she'd live to be a great-grandmother, but it might take some prodding to get that moving along.

"Grandma, I wouldn't do that," Ally said, with a smile and happily sat down on the stool, once again. She knew that she wasn't going as Rocky's date, but spending an evening with him was sure to be fun.

"You think that she'll come?" Rocky asked, as they piled the fabric into the back of the jeep. He was trying to not make it seem that he was as interested as he was and thought he had succeeded, for about a millisecond.

"Yes and she'll dance with you if you ask," Kim said with a smile, as she watched Rocky's expression turn into one of shock.

"Kim, how could you tell?" Rocky asked.

"Well, you were quiet and I knew you weren't staring at the fabrics, Rocky," Kim said, as Rocky's face reddened some. Had he really been that obvious?

"So you're right. Is there anything I can get for her?" Rocky asked.

"Yeah, a sheet of paper with your number on it, would be more than appreciated," Kim said, as they pulled out of the parking lot. The rest of the afternoon went rather smoothly, with the load of sewing being finished only a few minutes before three o'clock. Since they had vehicle constraints, Kim and Trini were going to be dropped off at the fabric store. Both of them had not gotten a dress yet and they were both worried about finding something suitable.

"A.J., you ready to go?" Kim asked, walking into the fabric store with Trini trailing behind her.

"Yeah," Ally said grabbing her purse and car keys.

"You don't mind driving, do you?" Kim asked.

"No, I get to go shopping," Ally said. "And besides you have to explain to me about Rocky."

"So this is who Rocky has been talking about ever since he got back from the fabric store?" Trini asked with a smile. Rocky had been talking almost non-stop since he had gotten back and they all could tell that this girl had really gotten his attention.

"Yeah," Kim said. "Let's go, we don't have a lot of time and Tommy is expecting me to get home by nine."

"You have a curfew?" Ally asked with a laugh. As long as she had known Kim, she had never listened to what time she was supposed to be home. She just got there when she got there, which meant Tommy must have a huge pull on her.

"It's not a curfew, it's something else," Kim said. To be honest, the main reason she needed to get back early was because Tommy had to teach the next day and she didn't want to wake him by getting in too late.

"Oh, like the 'something else' that happened the last time you were in California?" Ally asked, having sensed that Kim had not told anyone the complete truth about what had happened and maybe the only ones that really knew were sitting right in front of her. It had really bothered her when Kim came back and was more depressed than before, but she wouldn't explain it, to anyone and they all tried to get it out of her.

"No, it's not that type of 'something else'," Kim said with a smile. She was very grateful that she had not been captured, otherwise she probably would have had a nervous breakdown. It would have reminded her too much of her last trip, when all hell broke loose. She still couldn't get over being evil and what it had caused for all of them, especially Tommy. She knew that she wouldn't have been able to live with herself if that had happened again. "I'm sorry, Trini this is Ally, Ally this is Trini."

"Did you try to talk her out of the letter?" Trini asked, as Kim glared at her. Trini knew that many of her friends at the academy had tried to talk Kim out of it, but she was too stubborn to listen, to anyone. If she had been stopped, then Tommy wouldn't be so nervous about proposing, because they would already be married.

"Yes," Ally said, quickly turning her head towards Kim. "But she sent the damn thing anyway. So, is Tommy happily married to the person she thought he had fallen in love with?"

"No, he's actually taken Ms. Hart here back," Trini said, as Kim's glare become more predominant across her features.

"Enough, ya'll," Kim said, as Trini and Ally both sighed in defeat. They would have loved to continue picking on her, but she was obviously not in the mood for it. "Has Jason talked to you, Trini?"

"Kinda, but he keeps avoiding whatever it is he wanted to tell me," Trini said with a sigh. She was honestly starting to believe that Jason didn't care and they would have been best off like they were before. Of course there was the little thing of Billy liking Hayley. It was just starting to become depressing, no matter how many times Kim reassured her that Jason did like her, but he was not sure how to say it.

"Who's Jason?" Ally asked, as they go in her car. The name sounded familiar, but she couldn't place who he was.

"You met him. He was the one who came and got me to go back to Angel Grove last time," Kim said, watching as Ally drove towards an open air mall on the outer edge of the town.

"Oh," Ally said, as Trini and Kim giggled. "Don't make fun of my not so impressive vocabulary."

"We won't," Trini said, trying to stop herself from laughing.

"You have anything in mind, A.J.?" Kim asked.

"Yeah, I do," Ally said. "What about the two of you?"

"I have no clue, other than it is going to be a cocktail dress," Kim said, knowing she had been debating whether to wear pink or white. She did want to shock Tommy, after all, and a color change would surely do that.

"Neither do I," Trini said.

"Trini, how about red for you?" Ally asked, as the other two girls looked at her with obvious shock gracing their features. That color had always been off limits, for multiple reasons, but it was definitely something that would grab Jason's attention and they both knew that. Jason had never seen Trini in red and her showing up in his signature color would stun him in more than one way. "What? Did I say something wrong?"

"No," Kim said, having recovered first. "That's just not a color either of us would usually think of."

"Okay," Ally said and saw them let out sighs of relief. "But that's all? No other reasons behind red being an off limits color?"

"That's it," Trini said, glad that they had arrived at the mall. The car had begun to feel stuffy over the past few seconds, mainly because she had never been in such a heated discussion about why she only wore a certain color.

"Where do you want to go?" Ally asked, looking around at the ten or so stores. They had to be able to find something here, or it would not be good for them.

"How about that one?" Kim asked, spotting a little boutique that seemed to specialize in semi-formal wear.

"Sounds good to me," Trini said and they quickly started making their way towards that store.

"So do you know what color you want to wear?" Kim asked Ally, having decided that Trini was going to wear red, whether she liked it or not. Now the problem was finding a style that would most compliment her and would definitely make Jason speechless, which was pretty hard to do.

"I really don't, but I have a feeling my Grandma would want me to wear green. She says it 'compliments the hair' and that I should flaunt this with all that I have," Ally said, swinging her short hair, as the other two girls laughed. "She would really like for me to find something stunning, but I'm not sure that I'm on board with that idea."

"So, Ms. Fanny picked up on that too?" Kim asked, holding in the laughter that was trying to escape her mouth. Ms. Fanny had made an impression on her the first day she met her that she could pick up on minute details very easily.

"Yes, you should have heard some of the things she said," Ally said. "She was very observant of some of my actions and called them out to me and the whole world for that matter."

"So, you were looking at his butt?" Trini asked, with a sly grin. There were only two areas she looked at when she first met a guy and that was one of them, even if you couldn't judge a guys character by his backside.

"Yeah," Ally said, turning slightly red. "She caught me, too."

"How about this one?" Kim asked, pulling a crimson colored strapless dress off of the rack and holding it up for Trini to see.

"Maybe," Trini said, taking it into the growing stack of red dresses that were being picked out for her. She had never been one to take this big of a risk, but it would definitely be worth it. "The two of you don't have much to try on."

"Don't worry about us, Trini," Kim said picking up a white dress, which had some small pink squares of silk ribbon coming up in random patterns. This was definitely a compromise between wearing all white or all pink, which made her happy. "I have a pretty good idea of what I want."

"Same here," Ally said.

"White?" Trini asked, looking at the dress Kim had picked up.

"Well, maybe Tommy will enjoy this more than the pink I would usually wear," Kim said, with a shrug of the shoulders.

"Someone explain to me why all of you wear only certain colors," Ally said, thoroughly confused. She always just picked whatever color she liked and it seemed like they stuck to certain colors.

"A.J., there are some things that can't be explained," Trini said, trying to slam the door shut on the color issue. "Both of you are managing to get me out of yellow, so don't worry about it."

"So, you ready to try on clothes?" Ally asked, feeling that she would never find out, but that would be alright, for the time being.

"Yeah," Kim said, feeling that they had combed the store well enough.

"You are sure about red?" Trini asked, looking at herself in a bright red, knee length halter dress. She did not like this one bit and could only hope that they knew what they were doing.

"Maybe not that red," Kim said, walking out in a pale pink halter dress, this made her appear to be even shorter than she already was.

"No, definitely not," Ally said, walking out of her dressing room in a light green halter that had a collar secured firmly around her neck. The dress had dark green, horizontal pinstripes and it's hem feel slightly above her knee and with her deep auburn hair, it just fit; with a killer pair of black heels and some diamond earrings, it would be perfect for this occasion.

"So, we all agree this one is a no?" Trini asked, confirming what she felt with her fellow shoppers.

"Agreed," Kim said, as Trini let out a sigh of relief. "Ally, you really need to think about getting that one, though."

"Yeah," Ally said. "But you need to ditch that dress Kim, it does nothing for you."

"I know," Kim said, as she went back in her dressing room. "I'm really thinking about branching out to another color. Black, white, something else besides pink."

"You'd shock Tommy if you did that," Trini said, taking the next dress off of the hook and carefully slipping it on.

"And you'd knock Jason dead if you walked in wearing any shade of red," Kim said, picking up the white and pink dress, as it was the only other one she had gotten to try on. She was much more worried about finding Trini the perfect dress and did not really care what she bought for herself, although Trini was determined to make sure Kim would look nice, as she knew some more things than Kim did about that night.

"From pure shock," Trini chimed in.

"And some other things," Kim said, knowing Trini could definitely think a few of those other things right off the top of her head.

"I know who Jason is, but what are the two of you talking about?" Ally asked, walking out of her dressing room. They had been talking about Jason off and on, but it had never been made clear what Jason and Trini's relationship was.

"She likes him, he likes her, but both haven't said anything to the other. We're hoping to either make him speechless or stutter so much you can not understand him, if we do that then we will have found a good dress," Kim said, emerging from her dressing room in the white and pink dress.

This dress had pink stitching and pale pink ribbon peeking up through the fabric every few inches. The dress had small spaghetti straps, with a modest v in the front that bunched slightly in the middle of her bust. It came down snuggly over her waist and then curved out with her hips. From her hips in continued straight down, until it was an inch or two below her knees. She had found a pair of white kitten heels, which made her about a half-inch, taller, but suited the dress well. She had also picked up some pink, square-stud earrings and a bracelet that matched the earrings perfectly.

"Okay and you're going to get that dress, by the way," Ally said, in a no-nonsense tone of voice. Trini then walked out of her dressing room, not appearing to be happy, at all.

"I know," Kim said, rather satisfied with her choice. "And you are going to get that first one you put on."

"Yeah," Ally said.

"I don't know about red, anymore," Trini said, walking out in a rust colored dress. Trini's face told it all, she hated the dress and was hoping they would let her go back into her comfort zone, but to no avail.

"Trini, try the strapless dress on and if you don't like it, we'll go find you some yellow," Kim said, knowing that dress fit Trini's personality better than the others.

"Alright," Trini said, as they all turned to go back into their dressing rooms. Trini had another dress to try on, while Kim and Ally were getting back into their street clothes and gathering the garments and the accessories they planned to purchase.

"Trini, what's taking you so long?" Kim asked, after they had been waiting for almost ten minutes. Trini was staring at her herself in the mirror and wondering if they would like the dress as much as she did. The deep crimson colored dress, accentuated her curves, and made her feel like she could rule the world. Kim had gotten her a pair of crimson stilettos, which gave her just enough height to pull off this mid-calf length dress. They had also given her a pair of teardrop shaped, diamond earrings and a bracelet to match. When she finally did walk out in front of Kim and Ally, she was surprised to see that their faces where astonished at the dress.

"Do you like this one?" Trini asked, trying to hide the smile she had forming on her lips.

"Trini, you have to get that one," Kim said, rather certain that Jason would be speechless or a blubbering fool one, either of which would be perfectly acceptable.

"Yeah, you do," Ally said, as Trini smiled broadly at the two of them.

"Well, I guess that I only have to wait three days before I know how he feels," Trini said and turned to go back into the dressing room. After a few minutes, she emerged and they went to purchase their finds, all wondering what Friday night would bring for them.

AN: That is all for this chapter and the dance will be covered in the next two chapters. So, stay tuned if you want to find out the rest of this story. For those of you who like Tanya, please do not thinkI am bashing her, I just wanted to make an old relationship that had died down. Also, Ms. Fanny is Southern, so I am trying to give her the correct dialect. I hope that you enjoyed this one and that you feel comfortable enough to review! Thanks for reading!


	20. The Planning is Over

Disclaimer: I do not own the Power Rangers. I do own the characters Nicarni-Aso, Zefoid, the asoriods, the amephors, Mrs. Alison Sipper, Tanya Sipper, Principal Randy Strigner, Ms. Fanny Abbott, Ally Jameson, Richard Myles and the planets Asoriotan and Nonatasion. I also own the armor flexor, invisashield, and any other weapons that you have never heard used on the Power Ranger series.

**TrueRomantic:** Ally probably will find out, eventually, even if it is not in this story. As for Tommy proposing, give it a chapter or two, because that will definitely be in this story.

**KimberlyAnnOliver:** Sorry about the wait, but with school and all that was the earliest I could get it out. Thank you for reviewing and I want to go ahead and apologize for the wait on this one.

**Daniaryezel:** Well, I try different ways to get your attention and thanks for the review!

**amy:** Thanks for your review and I've decided that I'll use your idea in this chapter and the next one. Thanks so much for that suggestion and I hope you enjoy how I work the idea.

**Ghostwriter:** Thanks again for reviewing, I really appreciate it.

**Daisyz:** Thanks for reviewing again, I really appreciate it.

Now, on with the story!

_The Day of the Dance _

"Kim, I need to talk to you about something," Rocky said, pulling her away from the others.

The day of the dance had come and everyone else was busily working on the final touches, but Rocky found himself not being able to concentrate because of what Ally had slipped up and said. It didn't make sense to him why someone would want to attack Kim, but there are some sick people in this world and he hated to admit that. He had just never thought that they would be affected by it all.

"What is it, Rocky?" Kim asked, walking over and automatically feeling the big-brother protectiveness emitting from his psyche. Rocky seemed to have had something on his mind over the last few days and Kim knew that Ally couldn't preoccupy his mind this much, even if him being miserable had been able to do that. There just seemed to be something else going on in Rocky's mind and she wasn't quite sure what it was.

"I need to ask you about something and I want you to be completely honest with me," Rocky said, pulling Kim out into the lobby of the gymnasium.

He didn't want to worry the others until he knew the truth and he surely didn't want to add any more stress to Tommy, knowing he might explode at any moment. That was the only reason he had not gone straight toTommy to ask him about it, immediately.

"Alright," Kim said looking at Rocky and seeing that he was very nervous about this conversation. She couldn't understand what could make him act like this, unless there was something Tommy had done that she should know about, but even that didn't seem plausible right now.

"What happened to you in Florida?" Rocky asked, as Kim looked at him, with confusion shining through among all of the other emotions she was feeling.

_'Why did he have to bring up Florida?'_ Kim thought to herself as she tried to come up with a good answer that he would actually believe.

"Nothing, Rocky. Why would you ask?" Kim asked, knowing that she was lying to him, but she did not want to retell the attack to anyone, not even Tommy, yet. Richard Myles had been nice when she first met him, but then he found out about Tommy and things got ugly from then on out for her and even some of the other gymnasts. She didn't like to take herself back to that place if she could help it.

"Something Ally accidentally told me the other day," Rocky said, looking as Kim started to fight back the tears that were forming in her eyes. Whatever this man had done to her was much worse than he ever thought it would be and that made him feel sorry for asking, but he just had to know. Some onehad to help her with this. "What did he do to you?"

"Rocky, I really don't want to talk about this today," Kim said, biting her lower lip in an attempt to keep herself from crying, as she had already been overstressed by everything that was going on behind the gym doors. "It brings back too many bad memories and I need to be able to work today."

"I'll keep it between the two of us, but someone needs to know. This isn't something you need to keep inside," Rocky said, pulling Kim over to a bench and forcing her to sit down beside him. If all she was going to do was cry, the least he could do was give her a shoulder to cry on and pray that Tommy did not discover her to be that upset, as he was likely to break down in tears as well.

"I know that I should have told someone, but he said he'd kill me if I did and I believed him. None of you were close enough to really help," Kim said, as the tears overflowed. She knew that Rocky only wanted to help, but she didn't know if she was willing to let him help her.

"Kim, do you know why he attacked you?" Rocky asked, as she nodded her head yes. He honestly couldn't believe she had been keeping this a secret, until now. Tommy should be the one hearing it first, but he was because of how upsetting it was for her. "Why?"

"Because he couldn't have me," Kim said, looking up at Rocky. Who merely nodded a conformation that he had heard what she said, knowing he did not want to ask any questions until he heard it all. "When I first met Richard he was a nice guy, not Tommy, but a nice guy in general. He would always spot me if I was worried about a new tumbling pass or something and I thought that I was getting a good friendship out of it. Then he asked me if I'd go out on a date with him, I told him no. I explained to him that I had a boyfriend back home and that I just didn't see him that way."

"And he went psycho?" Rocky asked, as Kim shook her head no. She would have been able to handle that better than what he had done to her after the rejection.

"I wish he would have, but he took it well or so I thought. A few weeks later, I noticed that I started 'misplacing' my gym bag and books, but I would always find them in the girls locker room when I got there to train, so I just thought that I was a little too stressed, that I was working a little bit too hard. That was until I found a note in my math book," Kim said, pausing to wipe her eyes and collect her thoughts before she continued. "He had been taking my bags from inside my dorm and carrying them to the gym for me, everyday. It freaked me out, knowing that he had been in my dorm room, without me knowing about it at all. I called out here, but no one was available to talk to, so I went to Ally, hoping she'd be able to help me, but I just pulled her into the problem."

"This was before you…you know," Rocky said, not really wanting the letter into the context of this conversation.

It had absolutely nothing to do with why this boy had done what he did to her, although he would have loved to have gotten some answers as to why she felt she had to break Tommy's heart then. The main thing was, that they both were happy now and it would be great, no matter what the reasoning was behind it all.

"Yeah, it was Rocky. Any ways, for the next few weeks I was glued to Ally's side, in fear that he was going to show up again, but he didn't. It was about a month after I found out that he was going into my room that he started stalking me, from what I could tell. I'd run into him at some of the oddest places and usually I would be with some of the other gymnasts, but on the rare occasion that I was alone, I always felt the need to get away from him as soon as possible," Kim said. Now she wished that she had called Jason or Tommy, either of them would have taken care of this problem without a second thought, but she didn't. She wanted to give the guy the benefit of the doubt. "Then he attacked me one day. Ally and I had gotten a little ahead of the others on our morning jog, which was not fun, but we weren't too worried, Richard had been acting normal lately. He jumped out of a bush, tackling me to the ground. I don't know what came over me, but I knew that he wasn't going to hurt Ally or me, if I had my way. I threw him off me and launched into using the martial arts Tommy had taught me, for something like that. Pretty soon I had him down on his knees and then Ally and I ran for it. I didn't want to give him a second chance and I had the feeling that Ally was pretty surprised by all of this. She couldn't stop staring at me for weeks, whenever we did something even remotely involved with karate."

"Did it end there?" Rocky asked, as he saw her bite her lip and knew what her answer was going to be. He could tell that this Richard guy had not left her alone, after getting his ass whooped, but continued to pursue her instead.

"For Ally, yes. For me, no. He stayed after me every day I was there and Coach Schimdt thought that we should always be paired together, so I was around him much more than I wanted to be," Kim said, trying to keep herself from breaking down in sobs. "He never attacked me again, but I always felt as if he was watching me, but I haven't seen him in two years. I just hope that he has left me alone, for good this time. I don't know what I'd do if he showed up out here one day."

"I'm sorry, Kim," Rocky said, giving her a hug and he heard the welled-up sobs escaping her lips as she cried on his shoulder. _'Good Lord, Kim. Why didn't you tell us sooner?'_ He thought to himself as she continued to cry and they stayed that way for about five minutes. She seemed to have collected herself enough that she was ready to go back into the gym, but Rocky wasn't sure if she was going to return to her chipper self that day, not after what she told him.

_Florist Shop _

Later on that day, they had to make one final purchase, the flowers. The trip started out innocently enough, with them hoping to get in and out in under five minutes. The florist, however, had other ideas of how long it would take them to leave with their purchases.

"What do you mean, they haven't come in yet?" Kim asked, thoroughly enraged with the florist. He had promised he'd get them in on time and now he was going to either make good on his promise or Kim was going to lose her mind. The latter opinion would not be good for the florist, but she did have someone who would bail her out of jail if things got out of control, standing only a few feet away. "You had better be joking, if you know what is best for you."

"I'm sorry, Ms. Hart, but they have not come in yet," the florist lied, knowing that he had her bundle of flowers sitting in the back room. This was ordinary for him to do to first time customers, but since he was the only florist in town, they always came back.

"Kim, don't," Tommy said, seeing her show the classic signs of rage.

She had been running her fingers through her hair and had started pacing in front of the counter. After a few seconds, she glared at Tommy before settling her gaze on the florist. If Tommy wasn't going to let her lose her cool, then she was going to have to settle for buying anything that the florist had, no matter how much of a rip off it would be.

"Well, what do you have?" Kim asked, refraining herself from yelling at the florist. The florist had better been grateful that Tommy had decided to come with her, otherwise she would have flown off the hinges and made sure that every bit of her rage had landed on the florist.

"I have some white roses, if you're interested?" The florist suggested and noticed that Kim looked very tense, before she let out a sigh.

What other choice did she have? She desperately needed some flowers; there was no other place that she could buy them, without having to go to another town. She didn't have the time for that, today or most other times that over the last few weeks.

"How many do you have?" Kim asked, knowing that it would cost much more than she wanted to spend, but if this was all the florist had, then she would pay for them. She had to get some flowers, no matter what kind they were, or how much they cost.

"Enough for your plan," the florist said, glad that he had been able to convince her to buy the more expensive flowers. He, however, had not done a good enough job at convincing Tommy that he did not have the flowers, which caused Tommy to do something he rarely did, blow up.

"Where are the other flowers?" Tommy asked, not believing a word that had come out of the florist's mouth. He had also taken the look of determination he had with the asoriods on his face and the florist was starting to become scared, to say the least. This man looked to be very strong and he wasn't sure he could last in a fight against him. The woman he could have taken, but this man seemed to have been an athlete before settling down to teach, which meant that there was still muscle in there somewhere.

"What do you mean?" the florist asked, as Tommy started to walk towards the back room. He had never met Mr. Oliver before, but he got the feeling that he had definitely crossed the line this time. Most of his other new customers dealt with this, but he obviously was not going to put up with it, now or ever for that matter.

"They are somewhere in here," Tommy said, walking into the back room, with the florist only steps behind him. Tommy was ready to tear the place apart in order to find the flowers, even if it did mean he would be fined for it.

"Okay, I'll go get them," the florist said, as Tommy silently turned and headed out of the back room. Kim had noticed he had been acting nervous, as of late, but all of the pent up energy suddenly overflowed, on the unsuspecting florist, not that he didn't deserve it.

"I didn't know you had it in you," Kim said, letting Tommy know that she knew he was acting very odd.

This was not the same Tommy Oliver, who would have reasoned with the florist years before. He had a new edge, and it was a little scary, if the truth be known. This new edge also made her very conscious of everything they had just been through and it was ordinary for all of them to act like this soon after any mission, especially one like the last one. They had all been known to do crazy things soon after a mission, even Billy had broken down a time or two.

"It's only because he was trying to scam you," Tommy said, regaining his legendary composure, after taking a few calming breaths. He knew that it was more than that, but didn't want to say the rest. He was going to do enough confessing of feelings that evening, so he wanted to try to keep his emotions in check, but found himself failing.

"That makes me feel just wonderful," Kim said, as the florist walked back out with her assortment of flowers.

"Here you go, miss, sorry for the inconvenience," the florist said, as they gratefully paid for the flowers and left the shop without another word. They both knew that they would never use that florist again, even if it did mean traveling thirty or forty minutes out of the way to find a good florist. They then went back to the high school, in order to put some of the finishing touches on the decorations.

"You got the flowers?" Trini asked, watching as Kim and Tommy lugged a box between them. They had been gone for almost an hour, which was hard to explain when the florist was only ten minutes away. They had started speculating about what they had been up to, but came to a sudden stop when they entered the gym, both looking to be mad about something.

"Yes, but only after a slight struggle with the florist," Tommy said, as they put the box down. He was glad that Principal Strigner had given him the day off, otherwise he might have had to bail Kim out of jail, and that wouldn't have been pleasant.

"Kim, you didn't go off on the poor man, did you?" Aisha asked, knowing how Kim had a temper that could only be rivaled by Aisha, herself, when mad.

"No, someone wouldn't let me," Kim said, casting her gaze towards Tommy, whom had decided to go ahead and help the other guys. He still was able to hear what was being said and watched as the other guys looked at him, before shaking their heads out of the humor they found in this situation. Tommy, losing his temper? That was something, they would have to see to believe, well, everyone except Rocky and Jason. "But he decided to take care of that himself."

"No, you didn't," Hayley said, in disbelief. She had only seen Tommy lose his cool once before and it had been at the mention of him moving on with his life.

Now she understood why it had been impossible for him to find a girlfriend that would make him happy, when the one he wanted could still be had, but she still could remember how scary it was when he was mad. She never wanted to experience that again, if she could help it.

"Yes, he did," Kim said, which earned a stifled laugh from Jason and Rocky.

Both of them seemed to be the only ones who did not feel sorry for the florist, instead they seemed to think it was about time Tommy took his aggressions out on someone else besides the two of them. The others usually didn't see him mad, but Rocky and Jason were the only ones that had the right to feel sorry for the florist, but it was obvious to them that he deserved what he got, as well as the fact that Kim was not that mad at him.

"Come on, we have to get some work done. You have to leave at one and we have to go get showered and dressed at about four," Tommy said, diverting them back to the task at hand. He did not want to have this conversation right now or ever, if the truth were known. His temper had always sat on the back burner, but for those who were unfortunate enough to receive his lashings, it was definitely an experience that would not soon be forgotten any time soon and Kim knew about it more than anyone else.

"Fine, Tommy. We'll get to work," Kim said and ran off to begin on the flower arrangements. She knew that if the girls didn't get these done, there was absolutely no way that the boys would finish it, not up to her standards at least.

"So, is everything ready for tonight?" Zack asked, as Tommy and he lifted a fabric panel into position between two arbors.

Everyone knew except Kim and they all had been wondering if Tommy was really ready to take this step, after so many years of waiting just to have her there with him. No, it wasn't if Tommy was ready, for all of this it was if Kim was willing to accept his complete forgiveness so soon. They all understood that Tommy didn't want to waste anymore time. Five years had been long enough, and with any luck, he would only have to wait another year or so before they got married, which made him so happy.

"As ready as it is going to be," Tommy said, as they climbed back down the ladder. Over the last six weeks he had been preparing his speech, but he still felt that he was forgetting something, but that was normal for him, very normal. He came up with the same list of things every time he thought about it and the only thing he knew for sure wasn't missing was the ring, it was sitting in the console of his jeep, which he had happened to lock. That was all that really mattered at this point, because he knew in all likelihood the second he opened his mouth, all of his thoughts would go out the window. "Jason, how about you?"

"I don't know," Jason said, as Kim walked up and hit him in the back of the head. She was on her way to get some scissors, but had heard the question posed to Jason by Tommy, although she could not figure why they would have asked him about his romatic relationship.

He had better know what he was going to do or she would take things into her own hands. Trini had been miserable and Jason had been a pain in the ass lately, so they all were wishing that the two of them would just tell the other, but that hadn't happened, yet.

"Jason, you are going to tell her tonight or I will and I mean ever word of that damn fear we saw before they got to her," Kim said, pulling Jason down by his collar, so that she was able to mutter this in his ear. Kim wasn't sure how many of the rangers knew about the fear and was going to be nice enough to mutter the threat this time. She wasn't so sure she would be that nice, if she had to do it again.

"Okay," Jason said, as Zack and Billy grinned at the image in front of them. Jason could have easily dispensed of Kim, but was now being pulled around by the little woman. Katherine and Trini were only seeing the actions and couldn't help but wonder what Jason had said to get Kim to do that. She had done this before, but it was only when she was mad at Jason. Trini couldn't really think of a reason for her to be mad at him right now, even if Kat could think of several, in which most of them had to do with Trini.

"She must have something on him," Katherine said, as Trini and she spread out a tablecloth. She knew what Kim had on Jason, they all did, but there was no use to tell Trini exactly what it was. She knew that it wouldn't make Trini feel any better unless she heard it from Jason, himself, and that didn't seem like it was going to happen any time soon, which was sad.

"Kat, how do you think Jason felt about you?" Trini asked as they moved a fountain into the middle of the table.

She had been wondering this since that day at the beach, so many weeks ago and finally saw the opportunity to ask it, without any repercussions. Trini had never been one to be jealous, but she couldn't help but not like the way Jason had looked at Kat at the beach. Only she couldn't see that he was looking at her with a lot more eagerness in his eyes and a flutter in his heart when Kat told him to go after her.

"Not the way he feels about you. He loves you, Trini," Kat said and walked over to give Trini a hug. Trini hadn't been really happy since the beach trip, because ever since then Jason had been distant, and no one could really see why he was acting like that, except that he was scared about screwing this up. "Give him some time, Trini. He'll come around eventually."

"Why can't eventually be now?" Trini asked, feeling absolutely miserable. It seemed that no one understood her sorrow or even attempted to, not even Jason this time.

Jason had always been one of her best friends and when she fell for him, she had thought she would not have been able to have him and the friendship, so she choose to just leave it at friends. Then they had to go destroy Nicarni-Aso and something happened on that planet that made Kim and Tommy find out how Jason felt, but it meant nothing to her unless Jason told her the truth. Only then would she believe what she was being told, by everyone except him.

"I don't know," Kat said, simply shrugging her shoulders. They all knew about what Jason had planned, except Trini, but right now, that plan didn't even seem like it was going to be good enough. He needed to be able to confess everything and let her see something that not many others did, "but we will be leaving soon, so don't worry about him."

"Yeah, I'll try not to," Trini said, not wanting to have to deal with the thought of trying to impress Jason. She knew that the girls would take care of her if she had a nervous breakdown, which was likely to happen with the way she was feeling right now.

"So, who's this friend of yours?" Jason asked, trying to distract them from his situation. He had always thought girls were more ruthless about relationships, well that was until he told all of them about Trini.

Now they were riding his ass, as well as Kim, which was almost enough to make him go screaming from the room from the added pressure he felt. He just wanted to be able to tell Trini in his own way, but he never seemed to take the opportunities that they gave him, so now he would have to jump out there or risk losing her forever, as they seemed to be tellnig him that it was now or never for him.

"Ally," Rocky said, looking over at Jason, with a critical eye, "and no that is not going to work. At least I haven't fallen in love, yet."

"Fine," Jason said and looked down at his watch. It was exactly six hours until the ball was to begin, which signaled it was time for the girls to leave and time that they would be able to talk without worry, which meant his friends were going to give him hell. "Girls are dismissed."

"Thank you, Jason and we'll see you at 6:30, alright?" Aisha said, going to pick up her purse, while Hayley grabbed her car keys.

"That'll be fine," Zack said, giving her a hug. "Now go beautify yourselves and knock our socks off when you come back."

"We will," Kim said and then gave Tommy a kiss on the cheek. Tommy didn't know if he would be able to handle, too much of a shock, even though some of his friends probably could. Hell, Jason might need a shock just to get him to tell Trini the truth.

_Aisha's POV _

We had a great afternoon, of pampering ourselves and actually getting to relax after this hectic week of work. Kim and Trini both seem to be taking special care with their outfits. Which we all could understand, even if they do not know what is going to happen tonight. Zack has been much better lately, maybe because of what the guys said or maybe because he really cares. It doesn't really matter either way because we are getting along much better than I thought we ever would for awhile. Tonight is definitely going to be interesting for some people, and shocking for others.

_Rocky's POV _

I've tried to forget what Kim and I talked about, but I just haven't been able to do it. She is surely a different kind of woman, one that I am proud to say that I have met and have as a friend. Tommy will never know about what happened and it may be best that way. I don't know if I could take knowing that my girlfriend had been attacked and there was nothing I could do about it.

We always had been able to stop the evil, somehow, but this was a type of evil that we had no experience dealing with, ours usually had some maniac behind it. Her maniac, was a person, just like all the people we had saved while fighting the maniacs. I understand why she couldn't tell us, you can't go and destroy a person, without committing a crime and Tommy would have done that. We could always destroy the monsters and people would be thankful for that, but we couldn't do that to a person, which was a painful thing to live with.

"Penny for your thoughts?" Adam asked, walking over, with a suit bag in his hand and a tie draped around his neck. Rocky seemed to be really distracted, which wasn't normal for him. After he had met Ally, he had seemed to join the world of the living again, but ever since this morning, he seemed to have something on his mind, something serious.

"I don't think a penny is enough this time, Adam," Rocky said, as he turned to follow him into Tommy's classroom. This had become their makeshift changing room for the next few hours, as they all took turns taking showers in the boy's locker room, which was not as good as Tommy's home, but they had agreed it would be best that they stayed away from the girls for the rest of the afternoon. They did not want to be around that sort of chaos.

"That serious?" Adam asked, as usually he would be the one to respond with that type of answer.

Whatever was on Rocky's mind seemed to be weighing on him more than anything else had, in a long time. The last time Adam could remember him in such a thinking mood had been before Tanya and he broke it off. That was over two years ago and it was something that he did not think Rocky would ever deal with again.

"Yeah, it is," Rocky said, looking down at his shoes and then up at Adam, as he knew he was about to break part of his promise. "One of our friends had something happen to her, that should never happen to anyone."

"Who was it?" Adam asked, checking to make sure they were the only ones in the room. It appeared that they were, but unbeknownst to them, Tommy was working behind a cabinet and decided it best to stay back there. If Rocky had something on his mind, he was sure they would all hear about it, eventually.

"Kim, but I can't tell you anymore than that, Adam," Rocky said, as Adam eyed him suspiciously. What had happened to Kim? Surely, she hadn't been raped, but at this point even that wouldn't shock him. Florida had done something to her, even if they didn't like to admit it too often.

"Alright," Adam said, sitting down on top of a desk. Tommy now was struggling to keep himself from falling face first into the sink and revealing that he was there. He slowly lowered himself to the floor and propped himself up against the back of the cabinet. What could have happened to Kim that Rocky couldn't tell any of them about? He knew that he didn't like the sound of all of this and could only hope that Rocky would explain himself later. If not, he would have to find out, from Kim.

AN: I know I'm evil for leaving this chapter like this, but I promise the proposal will be in the next chapter. You know what to do, the more you review the faster I'll get the next chapter out. Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed!


	21. The Proposal

Disclaimer: I do not own the Power Rangers. I do own the characters Nicarni-Aso, Zefoid, the asoriods, the amephors, Mrs. Alison Sipper, Tanya Sipper, Principal Randy Strigner, Ms. Fanny Abbott, Ally Jameson, Richard Myles, and the planets Asoriotan and Nonatasion. I also own the armor flexor, invisashield, and any other weapons that you have never heard used on the Power Ranger series.

**hhsmajorettearg:** Thanks for the review and there will be about three more chapters before this story is over with. I'm glad that you like it and I hope to hear more from you later.

**jedi4jesus19:** I have to keep it interesting or no one with bother reading it! Thanks for reviewing, again.

**Daniaryezel:** The florist just did that for the fun of it, he likes to make people squirm. Sorry, but I felt that I needed to put a small kink in all of this. I know that it is coming along very slowly, but it is worth it, I hope.

**XRachX:** Thank you for the review and I'm glad that you have enjoyed the story so far.

**Daisyz:** I know, but I couldn't help but end the chapter that way.

**amy:** Ok, I'll try to get you some sites, but the only one that I have been on lately is That's fine, I expected some people to lose interest in the story, but I'm glad that you at least felt like you could tell me. Thanks for the review!

**Ghostwriter:** Thanks for reviewing again!

**Slshadowfox:** Well, he was lonely, as you pointed out to me. Kim's stalker will not be brought out in this story, but you can plan on him making an appearance in the next one. I promise. As for who will help her, you'll probably have to wait awhile to find out. Sorry :(

Now, on with the Story!

_The Ball and The Proposal _

"Where are the girls?" Jason asked, starting to get worried as it was already 6:30 and they were no where to be found, as he had even gone and checked the parking lot, already. They had been waiting for the last few minutes and it was not getting any easier for them.

It, also, seemed that they all had a hard time getting away from their most recent signature color, which explained why Tommy decided on a simple white shirt under his gray suit, instead of one of his other, multiple, colors. Besides, he didn't think it would do him any good to wear red, as Kim had never been a ranger with him while he was that color and he wanted her to remember the good times, not the bad.

"They'll be here," Zack reassured, as he, as well as, Billy, Rocky, and Adam grinned at how nervous Jason and Tommy were acting. The two of them are a hilarious site to see when this nervous, but they were also deadly if they were to be ticked off, by anyone, at the moment. They knew that they did not need to risk it and they knew that these guys were really trying to get what they always needed, which they had to respect. None of them had the guts to dare to do that yet. "Don't worry about it."

"I'll try not to," Tommy said, as Principal Strigner walked in with four of the six ladies. He immediately noticed that Kim and Trini were missing, and began wondering what could be keeping them from coming on inside.

Kim surely wouldn't be nervous about seeing him, but Trini might be more than a little apprehensive about seeing Jason right now. If she felt even a tenth of how he did for Kim, he didn't blame her for being this worried. The first time he asked Kim out, he almost had a nervous breakdown and could imagine Trini feeling the same way, although she wasn't planning to ask Jason out, yet, but she was getting very impatient with him.

"Where are Kim and Trini?" Jason asked, as the others now had their lady at their side.

Tommy was standing behind him, watching the door like a hawk, but they still did not emerge from it, no matter how much he silently willed them to do so. By now he was positively sure that Trini had gotten scared of seeing Jason and Kim was having to convince her that she should come inside, which was pure torture for him, as he just wanted to see her right now.

"Kim is trying to convince Trini that she looks fine," Aisha said, as Zack slipped an arm around her and grimaced when he heard those words. He knew Jason was not going to like that, as he looked down at Aisha. She was wearing a gold, strapless, knee length dress with gold heels and gold necklace to match.

Trini had gotten more nervous, the closer they had gotten to the gym and was now refusing to enter the gym, at all. She just didn't want to have to deal with Jason. Kim had ordered them to come on inside and was trying to get Trini to come in out of her own will, but they all knew she would resort to some other tactics if that didn't work soon, as Tommy was bound to run out of patience at sometime.

"Why? Trini has always looked fine," Jason said, as several glances were thrown his way, without him noticing. He was too enthralled with not seeing Trini, that he didn't notice the suspicious gazes being cast his way. Did he really think that this had nothing to do with him? He had known her for so many years that it made no sense why he wouldn't think that this involved him. Of course, he seemed to be a little dense on this whole situation, which didn't help things any.

"Well, you haven't exactly helped her self-esteem lately, Jason," Kat said, as she was wearing a light pink, spaghetti strap dress that reached her mid-calf with a pink pair of heels. Adam was standing behind her and could see that Jason was feeling guilty for his actions, as of late.

Jason had told all of them that he just didn't know how to act around Trini anymore, knowing exactly how he felt for her and he was afraid of messing all of it up. What he didn't know was that he was playing with dynamite by not speaking to Trini and all of the others were too afraid to tell him that, for fear that they would receive his anger, which was something none of them wanted to deal with.

"I'll go talk to her," Jason said, as Ally, Aisha, Kat, and Hayley all adamantly shook their heads no.

They weren't sure if Jason could handle it right now. Trini had been very moody that afternoon and if she was mad at the moment, she could hurt him more than they could imagine. They didn't want that to happen, not when it was so close to being resolved.

"Jason, she doesn't want to talk to you. She doesn't even want to see you, she's scared to see you," Kat said, as Jason's expression showed the deep hurt he was feeling. Jason had never been one to show his emotions but all of the other rangers were shocked by Trini's actions, as well. Although, they knew that Kim would get her to come inside, even if it did take some prodding or her being forcibly moved into the gym. Kim would do either if she needed to, but even that might not be enough to get them to talk to each other.

"I have to see her," Jason said, pacing around before deciding he didn't care what they said.

He was going to go talk to her, now, even if it wasn't the smartest thing to do. He turned himself towards the door and quickly made his way towards the awning before, disappearing under the first seam he came to. Now all he had to do was tell her, everything. He wasn't going to keep anymore secrets from her; there was no use in it anymore.

"Are you Tommy?" Ally asked, as Rocky slipped an arm around her. This boy seemed to know how to make her feel comfortable and she could surely get used to this. Even if it did mean a little additional teasing from her grandmother, it was definitely worth it this time. She was really starting to fall, hard, and she could only hope that he was feeling the same.

"Yeah. You must be Ally," Tommy said, noticing the new face in the crowd of his friends. She seemed to be nice and seemed to pity Tommy, although he did not know why she would.

"Sorry about what she put you through," Ally said, as Rocky smiled down at her. She was great for him, if only he would not scare her away this time, like he had some of his other girlfriends in the past with his ranger duties.

"Don't worry about that. I have a way to make it up to her," Tommy said, pulling out the little box and letting Ally in on the secret, the rest of them already knew about. Her eyes widened in shock and she looked up at Rocky for conformation of what she was thinking.

This boy was definitely everything that Kim had said he was and much more from what it looked like. Now it made sense why she loved him so much. But it didn't help explain why she would have ever thought to write the damn letter or gone through with it. It was obvious to her that Tommy could have never had another girl, except Kim, which she surely knew now.

"Yes, he's going to propose tonight," Rocky said, with a smile, as she still stared up at him. "But that's just our little secret."

"Okay," Ally said and watched Tommy stow the box back in his right pocket, before they heard the doors being forced open and Kim's voice ring out.

"Trini, you look great and Jason is going to be speechless," Kim said, being forced to resort to dragging her best friend into the gym. Kim had grabbed one of Trini's hands and was now walking backwards into the gym, while struggling to keep Trini heading in that direction.

She seemed determined to not set one foot inside of that gym, knowing Jason was in there, but she was about to have a rude awakening as she stumbled inside of it, with Kim having a look of triumph fall across her features. At least she had gotten her this far, now she just wondered if she could get her to the end of the arbor awnings and out in front of Jason. So he could talk some sense into her.

"Yeah, but I don't even know if Jason cares anymore," Trini said, as she finally gave up her struggling and started walking normally. She was so mad at him, but her mind could not let her stay that way long, as she was mainly upset that they hadn't talked things out, like she wanted to.

She then saw Jason walking towards her, in a black suit with a red button up shirt. His eyes had widened dramatically when they focused on her and she could feel her cheeks reddening with the way that he was looking her over. She knew what he was thinking and the feeling she got in the pit of her stomach let her know that Jason cared, a lot.

"Trini, why didn't you…why were you… can I give you a hug?" Jason asked stuttering out the questions and then threw his arms around her, before she even got a chance to answer him.

Trini was shocked by Jason's actions, but quickly returned his embrace, settling her head on his shoulder. She could feel him pulling her closer, before he settled his one of his hands on the back of her head and the other on the small of her back. They stood this way for awhile, before Trini decided that they needed to talk about everything, now.

"Jason," Trini said, tentatively lifting her head off his shoulder and looking up to see that she had Jason's full attention. There also seemed to be something else in his eyes, but she couldn't figure out what it was by just looking at him.

"Yeah, Trini?" Jason asked, as Kim slipped out from under the fabric awning. She knew that it was best if she did not witness what was going on, because both of them would be furious and it would be fun to speculate what actually happened until the two of them got annoyed enough to tell them the truth.

"What did you need to tell me after you woke up?" Trini asked, as she tried to regulate her breathing, but failed miserably. She felt her heart beat quicken, as he took both of her hands and stared at them for a few moments before starting to talk to her.

"That I…I," Jason said and took a deep breath, then looked her square in the eyes, praying that his friends had been right. If not, he would be eating his words and that was something he did not want to experience. "I love you. I know this is sudden, but you need to know, about everything."

"Jason, have you done something?" Trini asked, as he shook his head no. He hadn't done anything, but he knew that Trini needed to know about the fear he had seen before fighting the amephors. She needed to know why it had taken him ten years to tell her the truth and why the fear of her finding out from someone else drove him to what he was doing now.

"Trini, it was my fear, my fear of you being captured and taken away from me, Trini. I never really thought all of this would happen and when it did, I was devastated," Jason said, as he did something he had rarely ever done before, cry. He then let go of one of her hands and reached out to touch her cheek, only this time she didn't vanish away, as she had the last time he had done this. "Trini, Kim and Tommy know all of this, because they saw it. So, there was no use in me denying it anymore, I've wasted ten years trying to act like I don't care, like I don't love you. Trini, I know I've been stupid for taking so long, please forgive me and would you just consider going on a date sometime?"

"Is tonight alright?" Trini asked, as Jason's face broke into a broad grin and he gave her a kiss on the cheek. He could only thank God that she felt the same about him. "I take that as a yes."

"Now, what do you think Kim is going to do when Tommy?" Jason asked, leaving the question hanging, while putting an arm around Trini. He knew that there was no need to say the rest and he wanted to make sure that Kim didn't get any heads up about it, then they wouldn't have the fun of seeing her shocked.

"I don't know," Trini said, looking up at Jason, who held a smile that could only be mirrored by hers at the moment. "You know they are going to ask why you are so happy."

"They all knew what I was planning. They'll put together the missing pieces," Jason said, as they emerged from the entrance that the guests would be using later on that evening. "Ya'll did a good job."

"We had good help," Trini said, as they walked into the semi-dark gym. The tables that had been purchased were draped in navy blue fabric. The circular tables were covered in periwinkle fabric and the drink fountains sat in the middle, while the flower arrangements were placed in strategic locations. The rest of the gym's décor stayed the same, although there was some fabric flowing over the balcony.

"Trini, are you willing to help take up money?" Principal Strigner asked and then smiled, as she shook her head no. Trini did not like to let the principal down, but Ernie was bound to show up sometime and he would be more than willing to help take up money. "That's fine, I'm sure one of the other teachers will be willing to help out or Ernie when he finally gets here."

"Tommy, are you alright?" Kim asked, noticing his hands were shaking and he seemed to have been off in Tommy-land for a while. He hadn't noticed when she walked into the gym and seemed to still be scanning around the room for her, but he never looked right in front of him, where she had been standing for the last five minutes.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Tommy said, as he looked down at Kim. He expected to see her in some shade of pink, but found her wearing the white dress she had bought only days ago. The others had noticed the color change and watched as Tommy went into slight shock before coming back to reality. "What's with the color change?"

"Thought you might enjoy it," Kim said with a sly grin at his reaction. Some of the other girls had decided to make small wagers on how Tommy would react and right now Hayley was grinning at her small victory. She knew that Tommy didn't want to be shocked tonight, but he already had been and was taking it as best as could be expected, although he was very weak in the knees.

"Wow," Tommy said and Kim giggled as he gave her a hug, seeing her in his signature color sure threw him for a loop. He was just glad that he was somehow managing to keep his knees from buckling.

"So you like it?" Kim asked, as Tommy kept looking at her with a sense of awe present in his eyes. She had somehow managed to match the ring he planned to give her that night and he had the sneaking suspicion that Trini might have helped in matching the dress to the ring, even if Kim didn't have the slightest clue about it.

"No, I don't like it," Tommy said, pulling Kim closer to him and whispering in her ear, "I love it."

"Good," Kim said and felt someone pulling her away from Tommy. Kat and Hayley had decided that in order to keep the two of them from making out in front of the others it would be best to preoccupy Kim with some last minute details.

"You will have time for that later," Kat said, with a smile towards Tommy. She then pulled Kim towards the punch bowl, which still needed to be filled. "Come on, Kim."

"Kat, why are you doing this?" Kim asked, not very happy to be pulled away from Tommy. She could still feel his stare on the back of her head and knew that he had not been able to take his eyes off of her, yet.

"To give the boy sometime to think," Kat said, as she noticed Tommy was still staring at Kim. Well, she guessed some things would never change. Kim had always seemed to have that affect on Tommy, even when Kat was dating him.

"What does that have to do with anything?" Kim asked, utterly confused, but she soon was bombarded by the last minute changes she thought necessary and forgot about her question, which gave Kat the chance to slip away from Kim.

"Thanks, Kat," Tommy said, grateful to not have to be around Kim. She would surely figure out how nervous he was and he didn't want to go through the questions, especially when he wasn't sure what his lie would be this time.

"Your welcome," Kat said, as Adam walked up behind her and put his arms around her waist. The two of them were certainly much more comfortable with each other than they had ever been with any other person and it showed.

"Don't say that. You'll be running interference for me all night," Tommy said, fiddling with the velvet box in his right pocket.

He was becoming more worried, now that some of the guests were beginning to show up. He knew that he would only have one chance to do this and he had a certain song that the deejay was supposed to play for him. The deejay knew that he needed to wait until about halfway through the dance, when it would be so crowded that not too many people would notice what he was doing or so he thought.

"No we won't, because you'll be dancing all night," Zack said, rather pointedly, as Tommy looked at him and just shook his head. Tommy may have never liked to dance, but he had always done odd things, for Kim.

"Zack, you know I hate to dance," Tommy said, as it was starting to become slightly crowded. "I better go find Kim, I don't want to spend half the night looking for her."

"Don't blame you," Billy called after Tommy, as he disappeared into the small crowd of people. "He's really nervous."

"Wouldn't you be nervous if you were proposing to the person you want to marry?" Hayley asked, as Billy gave her a smile before nodding his head yes. He knew all to well that he would have been a nervous wreck and that Tommy was holding up well, compared to how some of them would be acting.

"Mr. Oliver, what are you doing here?" Tanya asked, as her teacher brushed past her. He sure looked nervous and that surprised her, considering that he did not seem nervous on the first day he ever taught at Reefside. She also hadn't heard of a certain engagement, so it was possible that was why he was so nervous, but she couldn't see why he was going to do this in front of so many students.

"I guess you can say I'm one of the hosts of this thing," Tommy said, not noticing the other female students that were gazing rather intently at him. He knew Tanya would not pry too far into the matter and when he found Kim, the other girls would definitely leave him alone, if they would only use their brains. Of course, they sometimes seemed to think that he was their age and he was constantly reminding them that he was a good bit older than them, but to no avail.

"Well, don't look so uptight. You're supposed to have fun, too," Tanya said with a smile and noticed her date was becoming rather impatient. "Have a good time, Mr. Oliver."

"You too, Tanya," Tommy said and then continued on his way through the crowd of students. He just had to spot Kim soon or one of his students might do something drastic, then he would definitely be in trouble, as him being nervous, made his temper close to the top of his emotional array of reactions.

"Tommy," Kim said, walking up behind him and tapping him on the shoulder. "I'm glad I found you, you better watch out for some of your students. They've had their eyes on you already."

"Kim, don't worry about me. My students know how to act and if they don't, I'll just show you to them. They should get the point after that," Tommy said, putting an arm around her shoulders and escorting her to the side of the gym. Neither of them felt that this ball was really for them and they wanted to let the kids enjoy it. So they passed the next hour or so, catching up for lost time and occasionally talking to a passing student. At about 8:30, a song came on that neither could stay on the wall to listen to and they decided to go into the middle of the dance floor.

"Tommy, why are you so nervous?" Kim asked, looking up at Tommy as they swayed back and forth to the song. This song went a lot deeper with the two of them than it would most others. They were just glad that they had gotten a second go at it and that the heartbreaks had been worth it, however unecessary they were.

"No reason," Tommy said, praying Kim didn't feel how sweaty his hands had become or hear his rapid heartbeat, as her head leaned against his shoulder.

The calmness that he usually had, with anyone, had disappeared the second this song had started playing. The other rangers knew, but she didn't and that was the scariest thing he had ever known. Next to, the fact that he knew the song was going to end in about two minutes and then he would find out if this was really meant to be.

"Alright," Kim said, knowing he was lying to her, but let it go. He had never lied to her before and not had an explanation for it later, only this time he seemed really nervous, which didn't make sense.

"Look at them," Kat said, pointing it out to Billy, who was standing closest to her. They had all situated themselves on one wall and were watching as the couple danced. They looked so happy, but they knew that they would be happier in about a minute and a half.

"Oh, boy. Looks like he is about to pop the question," Billy said, as the song came to a sudden end and a hip-hop song soon replaced it. They all exchanged a glance, as the floor became more crowded and they lost sight of Tommy and Kim. So much for them being able to see what happened.

"Kim, there's something we need to talk about," Tommy said, hearing the tempo change, but not being able to uproot his feet from their spot of the dance floor. He knew that he was going to have to do this, here, now. There was no more time to look back at what had happened in the past, he only had time to look to the future. Hoping that it would be a future with Kim in it.

"What do we need to talk about?" Kim asked, trying to pull him off the dance floor and finding that he was not planning to move until they had this conversation. Kim started to worry, but then spotted the other rangers and saw that they were smiling at the two of them. What in the world did Tommy have planned? "You want to talk about it here?"

"Yes, Kim," Tommy said, knowing he had better start talking soon or he'd lose what little courage he had built up over the past few weeks. "After everything that has happened between us, I never thought I would get a chance to see you again, much less have this again. There is so much left that I want to discover with you and no one else. Will you please marry me?"

"Tommy?" Kim asked, with wide eyes as the teenage couples that had been in the vicinity waited for her to answer. This was their teacher and this could certainly have repercussions, either way, but they were mostly concerned about what would happen if she said no. They did not want to have to deal with a depressed science teacher for the remainder of the semester, since they knew he would be leaving after Christmas, which was a shame. "You really want to? You trust me again?"

"Kim, I do trust you and I really want to have you in my life," Tommy said and he could tell Kim's brain was working overtime to try to comprehend what he had said. If she thought he was joking, he'd have to do the one thing he hadn't done, get down on one knee and pull out the box. He then decided to not make her second guess any more and did just that. "Will you?"

"Yes," Kim said, looking at the ring he had gotten for her and smiling. He knew her better than anyone else and she now had a good idea where he had gone the first night they were in Reefside. No wonder it had taken him so long to get to the buffet.

"What did she say?" Trini asked, trying to see what had happened, but it seemed that the students had formed a protective barrier around their teacher, which made it impossible for anyone to see what had happened.

"I don't know," Rocky said, trying to look over the crowd. "I'm sure we'll find out soon enough."

"I can't wait," Jason said and pulled Trini along with him towards the center of the dance floor. The others stood there in shock. When had Jason talked to Trini? None of them had witnessed this, but by the way, they were acting, Trini now knew the whole truth and had happily accepted Jason's proposal to date.

"When did that happen or am I just really slow?" Ally asked, as the others were pulled back into reality by this question.

"You're not slow," Hayley said, with a smile. "And none of us know when that happened. Do you think they'll be able to find Kim and Tommy?"

"Jason could find Kim in the middle of a pack of gymnasts, I think he can handle a couple of high schoolers," Ally said, remembering the day Jason had showed up at the gym, much to Coach Schimdt's dislike. Jason, however, didn't seem to care and made a beeline towards Kim before even seeing her face.

That was when she had been dragged back to Angel Grove, for some sort of important business and it almost cost her, her spot on the team. Ally had always wondered if it would have been better for Kim to stay in Angel Grove, but every time she asked, Kim would simply say that 'she choose this and she'd have to live with it.' What could you say to something like that?

"Why aren't you dancing?" Zack asked, running up to the others. Aisha and he had been dancing the whole night, but had scarcely seen the others out on the dance floor.

"We were trying to watch Tommy propose, but there were too many people in our way," Kat said, as Zack's eyes glittered. They had all been excited about seeing this, but Zack seemed to know something that the rest of them did not know, yet.

"Well, according to some of the kids, Mr. Oliver's not available anymore and the boys feel a loss as well. They thought Kim was a little bit younger. Does that answer your question?" Zack asked, as they all smiled.

"She said, yes?" Ally clarified, as Zack nodded his head and Ally turned around and gave Rocky a hug. Rocky was a bit surprised, but he soon got into the spirit of things as the others began celebrating. Hayley, was now dragging Billy in the direction Jason and Trini had disappeared a few minutes ago, while Kat and Adam were both smiling.

"Glad I could liven this up for all of you," Zack said, starting to walk backwards, towards the dance floor. "Now, if you don't mind I'm going back to dancing."

"Have fun, Zack and we'll meet you at Tommy's later on this evening," Adam said, as Zack ran off. "Kat, are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. I'm just glad that the two of them will finally be happy," Kat said and Adam pulled her closer to his side. She was happy for them, but it did hurt knowing that Tommy had been hers for a little while and what a great guy Kim was getting, although Adam sure did look really good to her now. It's funny how things turn out, especially at moments like this.

"Me too, Kat. Me too," Adam said.

"Kim!" Jason yelled, as Trini and he made their way through the teenagers' barrier. Tommy was just standing up and Kim seemed to be close to fainting, but was somehow managing to keep herself from doing that. Neither seemed to notice nor care about the crowd that had gathered around them, as Tommy enveloped Kim in a hungry kiss, before looking at the students and blushing a shade of red that rivaled Jason's shirt.

"Jason, what are you doing?" Kim asked, as he put his hands over Tommy's face. If Kim hadn't known any better, she would have thought Jason was about to kiss Tommy, but instead he turned to give Trini a kiss, which shocked both Kim and Tommy.

"We came to ask what your answer was," Trini said, looking over at the two of them, while Jason continued to try to kiss her again. Trini somehow managed to get out of his embrace only long enough for Jason to notice that Kim and Tommy were both staring at him. They had never seen Jason act like this before and it looked like they were expecting an explanation for his actions.

"It was yes," Kim said, holding out her hand for Trini to see the ring.

"I don't need to see the ring," Trini said, looking over at Tommy and saw him smiling at how his friends were acting. "I just needed to make sure we wouldn't have to take you to the Psyche Ward tonight."

"Trini, why would you need to take me to the Psyche Ward?" Kim asked, as the other three laughed. Zack's promise was ringing loud and clear in their minds and they were happy he would not have to do that anymore.

"Just something Zack promised we would do a few weeks ago," Jason said, as he saw Kim scanning the crowd for Zack. She looked ready to hunt him down and demand an explanation, but that was not going to happen if they had anything to do with it.

"It's not that bad, Kim," Tommy said, putting an arm around her and pulling her until she was directly in front of him, before wrapping his arms around her waist and settling his chin on top of her head.

"Alright," Kim said, as she saw a student heading their way. She didn't recognize this student, but that didn't surprise her at all. She didn't teach here, so she assumed that this student knew Tommy, somehow.

"Mr. Oliver," Cassidy said, walking up to the high school teacher. She was currently in the eighth grade, but had been invited by one of the ninth grade students. Her trusty cameraman was only a few feet away, this was top news, not only for the high school. Several middle school students had been looking forward to meeting Mr. Oliver, but if he was planning on getting married, everyone deserved to know.

"Yes," Tommy said, trying to figure out who this student was. It was fairly obvious that it was not one of his students, but something about the girl made him extremely uneasy. She seemed to be up to no good and Tommy did not like the glint in her eye, as she started talking to him.

"Are you really going to get married?" Cassidy asked, as Kim spotted a camera from behind her.

"Yes," Tommy said, as he had noticed the camera as well. "But I'm not going to sit here and be interviewed about it. Now, go on back to dancing and don't try to make this front page news, alright?"

"Tommy, what has gotten into you?" Jason asked, as the four of them walked towards where the other rangers had been standing.

"She had a camera with her, Jason," Trini said, as Jason looked at her, completely puzzled. Why would someone want to interview Tommy about him being engaged? They had, had to deal with some nosy news reporters before, but this was just ridiculous.

"Hayley, can you slow down a little bit?" Billy asked, as they had already bumped into several students on their way to find Tommy and Kim.

"Billy, I will once we find them," Hayley said, stopping to give him a hug, before pulling him further into the crowd. They went on for about five more minutes until they found the four rangers and by then, it was almost time to end the dance, which they were thankful for. After the ball had ended, they all piled into various vehicles to head back to Tommy's house for a nice night in and with Nicarni-Aso gone; they weren't too worried about anything happening to them. It was going to be the first time they had all been together and not had Power Ranger duties hanging over their heads, which was bittersweet, to all of them.

AN: That is all for this chapter. I hope you enjoyed it and I hate to break the news to you, but there will only be two chapters after this, so I hope you like it. Please review!


	22. Old Pictures

Disclaimer: I do not own the Power Rangers. I do own the characters Nicarni-Aso, Zefoid, the asoriods, the amephors, Mrs. Alison Sipper, Tanya Sipper, Principal Randy Strigner, Ms. Fanny Abbott, Ally Jameson, Richard Myles, and the planets Asoriotan and Nonatasion. I also own the armor flexor, invisashield, and any other weapons that you have never heard used on the Power Ranger series.

**jedi4jesus19:** Okay, I'll get it out soon and I'm glad you enjoyed it!

**hhsmajorettearg:** Thanks for the review!

**XRachX:** I'm glad you liked the proposal and nothing will happen with the stalker in this story, although he will play a key role in the next one.

**Daniaryezel:** Okay, I just need to let you know that, no matter what this story will end in two chapters, but the next story will have the wedding and such, I promise. It only made sense for Trini to be a nervous wreck, I mean we all have things that make us like that, although it is very out of character for Trini. The stalker will make an appearance in the next story and play a major role, but give it a few chapters before it will be obvious that he is there. Thanks for the review!

**amy:** Maybe he will find out, maybe he won't. You'll just have to read to find out.

**Ghostwriter:** Don't worry, there will be a sequel. Thanks for the review!

**Slshadowfox:** I'll be honest, I never did either until I knew what I would do with most of the others. It just kinda clicked when I wrote the beach chapter and it stayed that way, as you can see.

Now, on with the Story!

_Katherine's POV _

Our trip back to Tommy's house was uneventful. For once in our lives, we didn't have some monster show up and ruin our plans, even though I am not the one to thank for that problem being vanished, if only momentarily. I have my friends, who quit their jobs, to thank for that one.

Kim and Tommy look so happy, I will never be able to figure out why all of those years ago Kim decided to break it off with Tommy, it makes no sense, even to me and I dated him. No matter how much I did liked Tommy, he was never going to feel the same for me, but he took her advice and tried to move on with his life. I guess that we didn't help any, but we were all so busy with the Machine Empire that I know Tommy didn't have time to write or call, which isn't an excuse, but some things did get pushed to the side and that, unfortunately, was one of them. We have all done some bad things in our lifetime, I'm just glad the two of them got the chance to repair what should have never been broken.

"I have got to get in some comfortable clothes," Kim said, kicking off her shoes and starting to head towards the stairs and the bedroom that she had been living in over the last few weeks. She may have liked shopping, but even she could only stay in dress clothing for so long and she had reached her limit. She also had the feeling that several of the guys were ready to strip down and pull on a pair of jeans, as they looked very tense in their suits.

"I need to replace an old picture," Tommy said, grabbing Kim's wrist and pointing to a picture of the second ranger team from about six years ago. The six of them had been having a picnic in the park, which had been shattered about five minutes later, but no one could have told that from looking at the picture. They all seemed to be happy teenagers, with nothing more to worry about than the science exam they had to take on Friday. If only people really knew the truth about them. Then they would understand why when they were happy, they were joyous. Their life had not been an easy one, but it had been a fulfilling one.

"What about the originals? We don't get a picture on the wall?" Jason asked with a grin, and then he noticed Hayley and Ally were staring at him. While the others seemed mildly amused about what he had said, although he couldn't figure out why, yet.

"Nice going Jason," Billy said, as Kim slapped him in the back of the head, with the flat side of her heels. Then it dawned on him, they didn't know that they were the Power Rangers, and the first ones at that. Boy had he screwed up this time. No one was supposed to know who they were and now they had some explaining to do.

"Originals for what?" Ally asked, as Hayley looked at each of them and tried to fit their body types, in certain spandex suits. Hayley couldn't believe that she hadn't seen it before, but now that she was looking for it, each of them fit into at least one color or in Tommy's case, more than one.

"Do it now," Hayley said, figuring out that they must have been on a mission earlier that summer, which explained part of the reason Tommy had gone to Angel Grove, without so much as a good-bye. Billy simply nodded his head. He didn't have a response for that one, no one had ever ordered them to morph before and Hayley did not seem as if she was going to back down, not any time soon anyway.

Ally stood there in shock, wondering what it was that Hayley had ordered them to do. Tommy said something and these oval shaped objects appeared in their hands, then each of them said a color and they disappeared until the last color was muttered. Then, these nine people stood in front of them, but Ally couldn't tell who they were, but she was pretty sure that they weren't her friends. However, when took off their helmets and revealed themselves to the three women, they turned out to be the people she had been at the ball with only minutes earlier. Kat and Hayley looked fairly calm about all of it, but Ally looked close to fainting. What were they? No. They couldn't be, but it looked like they were.

"You have some explaining to do, mister," Ally said, pushing her index finger in the middle of the green ranger's chest. Rocky could only shrug as Ally's face broke into a broad grin, she'd interrogate him later, right now she was too confused to ask any questions and too scared to hear the answers. She didn't want to know what they had been through and she wasn't sure she was ready to handle the responsibility that came along with knowing all of this.

"He's not the only one. They all have some explaining to do," Hayley said, eyeing Tommy. She wasn't going to let him get away with lying to her when he first came back, although this was one hell of a reason to lie. "Working in Angel Grove all summer, now were you?"

"So I wasn't in Angel Grove all summer," Tommy said, putting his arm around the pink ranger and it seemed to hit Hayley as to how they got back together, only Ally beat her to questioning them.

"This is what got the two of you back together?" Ally asked, as Tommy and Kim both nodded, shy grins on their faces, as they tried not to blush. These were the only people that could have done what they did and neither of them try to kill them. They respected the other rangers' wishes too much to do that and the fact that they still loved each other did help some too, although it was hard to admit that to their friends, at first.

"More like we forced them to talk to each other," Jason said as Tommy remembered that he owed Jason a thank you getting them to do all of this. So, what if it was over a month late? At least he remembered, which was something with Tommy.

"Thanks for making us," Tommy said, as Ally and Hayley still looked very confused. How could all of their friends really be The Power Rangers? It was more than obvious that they had to be the first rangers, but why are they back in uniform again? It didn't make any sense, not unless they had to go destroy some evil that would have been able to easily take over the Earth.

"Why were you brought back?" Hayley asked, as they all exchanged a glance. They weren't too sure if Hayley and Ally were ready to hear about the mission they had just been on. They knew that they didn't even like thinking about it, much less trying to explain it to someone else. "I thought you would have retired by now."

"We were retired, but then Nicarni-Aso came out of the woodwork and we were brought back into power," Adam said, as Kat looked shocked, for the first time this evening. Zordon had told her about this evil and was surprised that they had been able to take care of it so easily. He had made it seem like they were in for a long hard road, maybe they had gone through that, but you couldn't tell by looking at them, not even when they first got back from all of it.

"Are they still at large?" Hayley asked, concerned for their well being. She had heard about all of the things they had been through, via the news media. If it was as bad as before, she knew that they had been through hell earlier that summer and it partially explained the pained look Tommy had given her when she had hugged him the first day he got back. The bruises may not have been visable, but the pain was still there for them.

"No they're gone," Tommy said, as he shifted his gaze toward Kim. "Thanks to her."

"You…you…that's how?" Ally asked, as the others looked at her in shock, except Rocky, who was watching Tommy's reaction. What had Kim done that they didn't know about?

Tommy had the suspicion that whatever Rocky had been talking to Adam about earlier that evening was the same thing Ally was talking about now. He looked over at Rocky and that was all the conformation that he needed, now if he could just get Kim to tell him about it.

"Yeah, it wasn't just Tommy's martial arts," Kim said, trying to avoid eye contact with Tommy, but she could still feel his gaze begging her to look at him. She knew that if she did, he would see straight into what the problem was and she didn't want to go there, not now, after such a great night with him. "I was the first pink ranger, Kat was the one that replaced me when I came to train for the Pan Globals."

"You left this for gymnastics?" Ally asked, as all Kim could do was sadly shake her head yes. She had always wondered what would have happened if they hadn't convinced her to leave and she had stayed where she rightfully belonged, maybe things wouldn't have gone so wrong, for all of them. "Are you crazy?"

"Well, I guess you could say that," Kim said, with a sad smile, as she saw Rocky shaking his head at her. Kim knew that he was going to say something about the attack, but she hoped it wouldn't be while she was in the room with Tommy, as he was likely to demand an answer, in front of everyone. "Ally, don't say anymore, please."

"I won't," Ally said, as the other rangers watched Kim wipe her eyes before turning back to them. What was she hiding from them? None of them knew, but they all knew that they were going to get to the bottom of this, no matter what it took.

"What happened?" Tommy asked, as some of the other rangers went around the house closing curtains and locking doors. It seemed that they were going to be in uniform for quite awhile and they didn't want to risk someone driving up and seeing them this way. It also might be the only chance they had ever had to take a picture without their helmets on and they wanted to make sure they didn't miss this oppurtunity.

"Nothing, Tommy," Kim said, looking up at him and knowing he did not believe one word that had come out of her mouth. She would explain it later, if he asked her about it. She just didn't want to talk to him about it now. "I just want to be happy, tonight."

"He needs to know, Kim," Rocky said, as Kim shook her head no. She couldn't help but see the hurt in Tommy's eyes, but she couldn't bring herself to tell him about it right now. It would all be too much for her and for him.

"I'll tell you later," Kim said, as Tommy simply nodded his head yes. Jason could tell that whatever it was, was shaking Kim up a good bit and that she didn't want to have to worry Tommy with it tonight, although he was likely to ask her about it as soon as they were able to get by themselves. "It's too depressing."

"Alright," Tommy said, as he walked over and picked up his digital camera.

"So, we're going to get pictures with the helmets off?" Kat asked, as Tommy nodded his head yes.

"Tommy, you're sure about that?" Jason asked, as they all seemed to like the idea, but it could be risky, in some ways.

"Why not? We can put them in some hidden places. I'll keep mine in the basement," Tommy said, as they all stepped in to take the picture, standing as close to their old places as they could. This was a team in itself, so they all seemed to agree that they didn't want to break down into teams, not for this one at least.

"Nice," Hayley said, as Ally snapped the picture. "Now get back into your regular clothes, so we can get some pictures to replace those."

"Power down," Tommy said and the others soon followed his lead, which returned them to their ball attire.

"Originals first?" Jason asked, as they nodded and left the first five rangers standing with Jason in the middle, Kim and Billy on one side, and Trini and Zack on the other. "Tommy, you don't want in this one?"

"The first five should go now and I'll get in the next one," Tommy said as they smiled for the camera and took the picture.

"Tommy, come on," Kim said and they adjusted themselves to the formation they had taken when Tommy had become the leader of the rangers.

"Why do you stand like that?" Ally asked, as they laughed at her question. Rocky, Aisha, and Adam were now standing where Jason, Trini, and Zack had been standing for the last picture.

"This is how we stood when we teleported to places or morphed. It just kinda sticks after all of those years," Kim said, before Ally took the final picture of the night.

"I can't believe that I have known you all of these years and never figured it out," Hayley said, looking at Tommy. She was fairly certain he was either a ranger when she had first met him or had recently retired from the line of duty, but that was something she only knew after she had been able to figure it out. "And you, well I didn't think it was possible, although I should have known it."

"Hayley, our own parents don't know who we are and what we have done, only the two of you do," Billy said, as they took this small bit of information in. No one had been told before, no one else knew, now they understood why they had all reacted so harshly to Jason's slip up, if they couldn't be trusted to keep it a secret, it could put the whole team's lives in jeopardy.

"So we're sworn to secrecy?" Ally asked, as Rocky shook his head yes. They all knew that they had put the two of them in more danger by letting them in on their secret, but the truth had to come out, if Hayley and Ally were going to ever trust them again.

"Can we go change?" Kim asked, and headed for the stairs before she gave them a chance to answer. She started unzipping the dress on her way up the stairs, while the other girls followed her lead.

"I guess so, but we would enjoy the show," Rocky said, with a mischievous grin on his face. Kim turned around to face him, which shocked him at first, but then she stuck her tongue out at him and that made them all sigh with relief.

"What, you thought that you would be that lucky?" Tommy asked, as Kim glanced down at the both of them, as she had reached the balcony.

"Neither of you will be that lucky if you keep this up," Kim said, as Tommy started heading towards the stairs. The guys could tell he was going to play with Kim's head for a little while, but Kim was worried that he might take the playing a little too far, even for Tommy.

"We'll see about that," Tommy said, as he began running up the stairs, dodging around the other girls.

"Tommy," Kim gasped, in shock and then turned to run into the closest room, which happened to be Tommy's bedroom. It was then that she realized that her clothes were not with her, but two rooms down the hall, which left her stranded in her dress. "Shit."

"What are you going to do?" Trini asked, stopping Tommy for a few seconds, in an attempt to let Kim get into a room, even if it wasn't her own.

"Don't worry, she'll be fine," Tommy said with a smile, before continuing up the stairs. He looked down the hall and saw that his bedroom door was closed. He knew it hadn't been that morning, so he cautiously opened the door, just in time to see the bathroom door slam shut. "Kim?"

"Tommy, I gotta change," Kim said pushing herself against the bathroom door. She had somehow managed to grab a pair of Tommy's boxers and an old undershirt, before diving into the bathroom.

"I know," Tommy said, leaning against the door, but decided he wouldn't push his luck tonight. She'd already agreed to marry him and barging in on her might push her over the edge. Plus, he was still hoping he could get her to tell him what Rocky and Ally had been talking about downstairs.

"Why'd you do that?" Kim asked, walking out of the bathroom, in his oversized clothes. She was really going to have to start stowing an extra pair of pajamas in his room for occasions like this, because the second she stepped outside that door, the ridiculing would begin.

"To get you alone," Tommy said, as she shook her head at his craziness. There were much simpler ways to do that, but he obviously didn't think of any of those.

"You could have asked," Kim said, giving him a hug and a gentle kiss on the cheek. "Our friends would have let you."

"No they wouldn't and I believe that you have something to tell me," Tommy said, looking down into her eyes. He could tell that he had won the battle, the only thing he had to do was sit, and listen to what she had to say.

"Well, alright," Kim said, sitting down on his bed and clutching a piece of the bed spread in her hand. She really didn't want to talk about it, but he did have the right to know everything. "Tommy you have to promise me something, though."

"What's that?" Tommy asked, pulling his tie loose and going to find some pajama bottoms.

"That you won't go kill this person," Kim said, as she felt him turn his eyes to her. All he could wonder was what could she possibly have to tell him that was going to make him that mad about something? Whatever it was, he knew that he couldn't make that promise and keep it, if he knew who the person was and possibly even if he didn't know him.

"I won't make that promise, Kim," Tommy said, walking into the bathroom, so he could change in some privacy and so he could try to clear his mind. "I know that I am not going to like whatever you have to say and there is no guarantee I could keep it."

"Okay, Tommy," Kim said, biting her lower lip and letting out a ragged breath. She really didn't want to have to tell him, but she didn't have much of a choice now. Tommy deserved to know what had happened to her, even if it would rip him up inside and bring her to tears.

"So what is all of this about?" Tommy asked, sitting down on the bed and giving Kim his full attention. She seemed really nervous and he could only imagine the worst coming out of her mouth. The sad thing was what he was thinking was not far from the truth.

"Well, there was this guy who kinda stalked me for a little while," Kim stated and looked up to make sure Tommy was hearing what she was saying. His face tensed as it sunk in, but he nodded his head and gave her a reassuring smile, although she could tell he was just barely able to keep himself from demanding that she tell him who it was.

"Is that all he did, Kim?" Tommy asked, not wanting to particularly go into great detail about all of this. He wanted to know, but the details were not as important as her just telling him.

"No, he attacked Ally and me one day, Tommy," Kim said, as Tommy felt his heart being ripped out, before rage soon filled the empty space. Who did this man think he was laying one hand on his Beautiful? He had no right to stalk her and he was glad that the man was probably over three thousand miles away or he would have killed him right away, as soon as he could have found him.

"What did he do?" Tommy asked, through gritted teeth. Kim knew that he was trying his best to keep his cool, but that his temper was getting the best of him, as it always did when it came to her.

"He attacked me from behind and threw me down to the ground. Tommy, I was so scared that he was going to kill me. He tried to pull off my shorts, but that just pushed me over the edge. I threw him off of me and used ever skill that you had ever taught me, then I ran," Kim said, choking out the words as her body began to shake with the reality of everything. She knew that she had left out him trying to unclothe her to Rocky, but the only one that needed to know that was Tommy and he was also the only one she trusted to tell that to.

"God no," Tommy said, pulling her into a crushing hug, as he joined her, with tears of his own. He could feel the sobs shaking her body and he could also tell that he was going to be listening to a lot more things like this, even if he didn't want to. If he had known, that going to Florida would have done all of this to the two of them, he would have never told her to follow her dream. He would have been selfish and asked her to stay there with him, like his heart had screamed for him to do, but hindsight is twenty-twenty and foresight, is at best a blind guess. "Did it stop after that?"

All Kim could do was listen to Tommy's question. What was she supposed to say to him? She knew that it hadn't stopped for her, but she didn't want to upset him anymore than she already had. Could she risk telling him that Richard had continued to stalk her and on two other occasions, tried to do the same thing? It took her a few minutes to collect her thoughts into a plausible sentence, but once she did, she pulled away from Tommy, not wanting to see the hurt that was going to come through his eyes when she told him everything else.

"Kim, did it stop?" Tommy asked, letting go of her and using his palm to wipe his eyes. He knew the answer from how long it was taking her to say something, but he had to hear it from her.

"No, Tommy, it didn't," Kim said, looking down at the bedspread and tracing the pattern with her finger. Tommy moved his hand over and slowly placed it on top of hers.

"Did he ever…" Tommy asked, not feeling brave enough to finish the rest of the sentence. He prayed to God that this man had not done that to her, but if he had, he was going to pay the consequences.

"No, Tommy, he didn't, because he was put in jail for raping someone else first," Kim said and gave him a weak smile. She didn't want to tell Tommy that he had gotten out on probation a little over a year ago and that she had seen him once or twice. There was no use in worrying him about it, she knew that he couldn't have followed her to Angel Grove, mainly because she had flown on an airplane that only held six passengers.

"Come here," Tommy said, pulling her into his lap and rocking back and forth. He searched his mind for a few seconds before he started talking, wanting to make sure that he didn't say anything that would make the subject even more uncomfortable. "Oh, Kim. I wish that you would have told me this, before you sent that damn letter. I would have come out there and brought you back, no matter what you wanted to do. You should have never had to go through that and I hope that the son of a bitch gets what he deserves."

"Tommy, this is exactly why I didn't tell you, because I knew that you would have gotten so mad that you would do something drastic," Kim said, giving him a kiss on the cheek.

"I don't think that would have been drastic. You going to train for the Pan Globals is what tore us apart," Tommy said, with a sigh and just looked up at her. He knew that he would never be able to forget all of the years he had wondered why he didn't go after her, but to have her back there, with him now was better than any of the dreams he had about it.

"And being Power Rangers brought us back together," Kim said, before getting up and walking to one side of the bed. She then crawled under the covers and curled up to go to sleep, not caring that it wasn't her room. Tommy watched her for a few moments, trying to decide if he wanted to join her or go back downstairs and talk to the guys. It didn't take him long to hop into bed and pull Kim close to him before he too, fell asleep.

AN: That is all for this chapter and there is only one more left. Please review and I promise that I'll have the chapter out within a week. Thanks for reading and I hope that you have enjoyed it.


	23. Epilogue

Disclaimer: I do not own the Power Rangers. I do own the characters Nicarni-Aso, Zefoid, the asoriods, the amephors, Mrs. Alison Sipper, Tanya Sipper, Principal Randy Strigner, Ms. Fanny Abbott, Ally Jameson, Richard Myles, and the planets Asoriotan and Nonatasion. I also own the armor flexor, invisashield, and any other weapons that you have never heard used on the Power Ranger series.

**BeautyofthePinkRanger:** Thanks so much for the review!

**Daniaryezel:** Thanks about that, but I've always thought Tommy would react like that. I'm glad you're happy about the sequel that will be out soon.

**amy:** Thanks so much for the review!

**jedi4jesus19:** Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**rach:** Thanks for the review and I'm sorry it upset you, but that needed to be in there.

**Slshadowfox:** They'll get payback, up to a point in the next story and in the final story, he'll be taken care of, I promise.

**DreamsofGold:** It's only the end of this one and the beginning of another story. I didn't feel like I should make this into some long, drawn out thing. I'm glad that you have enjoyed it so far and I hope you enjoy this, the last, chapter.

**Ghostwriter:** Thanks for the review and hopefully I'll make up for it ending in the next story.

Now, on with the Story!

_Kim's Thoughts _

Over the last three months, I have gone back to Florida, to sell my house and get everything else shipped out here, to where I belong. I knew when I got on the plane to Angel Grove that I probably would never go back to Florida, but I wasn't going to move my stuff out here without having a place to stay and now I do. Oh, I forgot to tell you that I moved in with Tommy, now for all you perverted people out there, we haven't okay? We actually don't share a bedroom, unless I accidentally fall asleep in there and I have a few times, from exhaustion of helping out at the dojo.

It's definitely been different over these last few months, planning a wedding that is going to be well over a year from now. Why that long of a wait, you might ask? Well, we wanted to wait until he finished getting his doctorate, which he will start working on right after Christmas break is over with.

As for our Power Ranger duties, well they have certainly decreased since we defeated Nicarni-Aso and Ally and Hayley are getting used to knowing who we are and what we have done, in the past. I know that it has been rough on Ally, especially, but Rocky's been doing his best to answer all of the questions that she has about it. It seems like she always has another one come to her mind and she'll just rush over to see what the answer is, but she's been good to her promise and hasn't told anyone.

Hayley, on the other hand, has been trying to help Billy figure out a way to fully remove our powers without us going through the horrible withdrawal that we have experienced in the past. It's kinda rough knowing that we will be stripping ourselves of our own powers and that this is what is best for us. We aren't meant to keep these powers for a long time, they are supposed to be put back in the box, in case we ever need them again. Tommy and Jason are already beginning to experience migraines and nausea, so they will most likely be the first ones to have to give their powers back and Tommy will be giving his back tonight. Which means that we all will soon start experiencing these problems, even though it will take some of us longer than others.

I also thought that you might want to know about what that student did with her newsreel. She aired it on the Monday after we got engaged. I know that I had never seen Tommy so mad in my life and I was honestly afraid of what he might do to the girl, although she did not seem to be bothered at all. I guess that she has seen her fair share of irritable teachers before and didn't realize whom she was messing with.

Tommy had already planned to tell all of his classes, but now he had to dispel every lie that the girl had told about us and from what I hear, they were pretty outrageous. When he got home that day, I saw him throw one of the worst tantrums I had ever seen, before I sent him downstairs to take out his aggressions on the punching bag. I knew that he had a temper, under his air of calmness, but this matter had certainly pushed him over the edge. I agreed that this was our life and no one had the right to intrude on it, but he felt more strongly about it. Now he feels as if she will try to find out more about our lives, including the fact that we were and are still Power Rangers.

After that night, when I told Tommy about Richard, things between us have been great. The other rangers have not found out, as I thought it wasn't necessary and some of them would noth have had pleasant reactions. Jason, would have wanted to fly to Florida and kill him and probably would have tried it if he knew. I know that Tommy felt the same way, but he was trying to keep his emotions in check, in an attempt to not upset me anymore. They all know up to a certain point what it is about, but they only one who will ever know all of it is Tommy.

It's not that I don't trust my other friends, but he is the only one who was likely to really board a plane and go after him, but he didn't, although he doesn't know that when I went to sell my house that Richard showed up, again. This time, instead of feeling scared, I dared him to try to do anything or I would send Tommy after him this time, it scared him, I guess, because he left and I haven't seen him since. Thank God.

Anyway, after Tommy leaves to go work on his doctorate, I'll be left here to find a job and keep this place up. He seems excited about this and I hope that he'll enjoy all of it, although I am scared for him. I don't know why, but my gut tells me that I don't want him to go on this, but he wants to. They have him going off to some island, with this crazy doctor to work for a year and a half on some dinosaur project. So, tomorrow, at this time, he'll be on that island with Anton Mercer and I'll be sitting here, scared about what might happen to him.

AN: This is the end of this story. I know that I'm leaving it a very open ended, but I already have a sequel in the works, so be patient with me and it'll be out soon. I hope you have enjoyed reading this as much as I have enjoyed writing it and your reviews will be greatly appreciated. Ta-ta for now!


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